binnovel Chapter 43 Hotel
Chapter 43 Hotel
As soon as Li Chenglong and his group reached the bottom of the stairs, they found the main entrance firmly blocked. Wang Bing suggested moving the door, but Zhou Chuan and Zhang Shan, looking disheveled, arrived. Zhou Chuan immediately barked, "Who gave you permission to interfere? A mere Titan zombie? We two brothers wiped it out in no time! And after fighting for so long, you got the kill! What about the crystal the zombie dropped? You have to give it to us!" Zhang Shan chimed in, "Yeah, even if we don't give you the whole thing, half is fine, right? We can trade you a low-grade crystal for that one. I saw it earlier; it's a rare yellow crystal." Yang Liu rolled her eyes and remained silent, while Wang Bing stared at them indifferently. Chen Xiaoke said angrily, "You two old men, have you no shame? If it weren't for us helping, you'd be dead already!" Li Chenglong then said, "If you want the crystal, come and get it yourselves, provided you can actually get it."
Zhou Chuan and Zhang Shan looked into Li Chenglong's eyes and felt a chill run down their spines. Just as they were wondering what to do, a pleasant voice came from the second floor: "Zhou Chuan, all guests are welcome. Please invite these people up for a seat." Upon hearing Zhang Liying's voice, Zhou Chuan and Zhang Shan immediately calmed down and changed their expressions, saying, "For security reasons, the main door on the first floor cannot be opened, and the ordinary people inside have never come out. Only Zhou Chuan and I usually come out to search for food and other supplies. There is a rope ladder on the side that leads to the second floor of the hotel. Let's use that to come up." After saying that, he led Li Chenglong and the others to the rope ladder. Li Chenglong carried Chen Xiaoke and went up first, followed by Yang Liu and Wang Bing, and finally Zhou Chuan and Zhang Shan.
As soon as the group entered the second-floor buffet hall, they saw a dozen or so people sitting there. One person stood out from the crowd because she was indeed very beautiful. Wang Bing immediately exclaimed, "Are you the big star Zhao Liying?" Zhao Liying smiled sweetly, "In this chaotic world, who cares about being a star? Aren't we all just survivors struggling to survive?" After saying that, she walked over and extended her snow-white right hand to Li Chenglong, "Hello, can we get to know each other?" Li Chenglong politely shook her hand and then released her, saying casually, "My name is Li Chenglong. This little girl is my sister, that tall guy is my friend Wang Bing, and the last woman is also a friend of mine, named Yang Liu." Zhao Liying also went over and shook hands with each of them. Wang Bing whispered to Li Chenglong, "Captain Li, I actually shook hands with a big star, hehe." Li Chenglong was slightly helpless, "What kind of time is this to still be chasing stars?" Chen Xiaoke whispered, "She's far inferior to Sister Yunlan. Sister Yunlan is the real big star in my heart." Yang Liu didn't speak, but covered her mouth and chuckled.
Although Chen Xiaoke spoke softly, Zhao Liying's manager, Liang Li, still heard her. The woman immediately retorted, "What does a little kid like you know? Even other celebrities wouldn't dare say that." Chen Xiaoke pouted, "It's just that there's no camera, otherwise I would have taken some pictures of my sister Yunlan for you. By the way, brother, do you have pictures of Sister Yunlan?" Li Chenglong didn't respond to this, but simply said to the group, "We just want to find a room to rest; we have absolutely no intention of disturbing you." Zhang Shan and Zhou Chuan also came over at this moment. Seeing Zhao Liying staring at Li Chenglong, they were furious. Zhang Shan said, "This building has 12 floors. Currently, we live on floors 3-5. If you have the guts, you can stay on the second floor; otherwise, you can choose any floor above the sixth."
Li Chenglong nodded, "Alright then, we'll stay on the 10th floor." Zhou Chuan added, "We don't provide meals; you'll have to fend for yourselves." Li Chenglong ignored him and led the three of them off. Zhao Liying then released a faint wisp of special power, preparing to follow Li Chenglong upstairs. Li Chenglong had only climbed a few steps when he stomped his foot, and the power dissipated.
"Tch, what's with the arrogance?" Zhou Chuan said disdainfully. Zhao Liying then asked, "Are those guys really that strong?" Zhang Shan smiled contemptuously, "Liying, you're not an ability user, so you can't detect them. Actually, that little girl and the other woman are only level three; we could easily kill them one-on-one. From my observation, that skinny man is a speed-type ability user, and I can tell that shooting that arrow almost exhausted his energy. As for the leader, I think he's just an ordinary person because I can't sense any ability fluctuations from him. He's probably some ignorant rich kid or bureaucrat's son who came out with a few henchmen to try and cause trouble. But that bow is definitely a good thing." Zhou Chuan also revealed a greedy look, "Yes, with that bow, we can easily kill that zombie too."
As the two continued their chatter, a flash of disgust crossed Zhao Liying's face, then vanished. She then told her agent, Liang Li, "I want to talk to them about what's happening outside." Before Liang Li could speak, Zhang Shan and Zhou Chuan said in unison, "No, they're all superhumans, and Ying'er, you're just an ordinary person. What if they try to harm you? Besides, we've already told you everything about what's going on outside." Actually, these two were mainly afraid that Zhao Liying would find out the truth. Two weeks ago, the Dawn Base began using radio and other means to call on survivors who were living alone to come to the Dawn Base for protection. Zhang Shan and Zhou Chuan already knew about this, but to prevent Zhao Liying from leaving if she found out, they hadn't told her. Another reason was that these two always felt that Zhao Liying's gaze towards Li Chenglong was a little off, and they were afraid of having another "love rival."
At this moment, Liang Li also said, "Yeah, Liying, look how brutally they kill zombies, and how arrogant they were when they came up here. What are you going to do? Let's eat quickly and then go rest." Zhao Liying shook her head: "I'll just go for a while, it's fine." After saying that, she went upstairs. Zhang Shan and Zhou Chuan's faces darkened, and they also immediately went to the third floor to discuss matters, leaving only a few people who were still eating bread.
Li Chenglong and his group arrived on the 10th floor. Yang Liu whispered, "Captain Li, I feel like those two are hostile towards us, and it's not because of the crystals. We can't be careless." Li Chenglong nodded, glancing at the backpacks Wang Bing and Yang Liu were carrying. "They're probably after our stuff. They might make a move." Wang Bing angrily said, "Why don't Yang Liu and I go and take care of those two trash? They were really annoying me downstairs." Li Chenglong shook his head. "No, you guys just had a big fight. You need to rest, especially Yang Liu. I knew you'd been busy these past few days..." "I wouldn't have brought you during this special time." Yang Liu blushed: "Captain Li, how could you do this? I told you you wouldn't casually check our privacy." Li Chenglong scratched his head: "I didn't check, I just noticed your strength was a bit unstable, and your ability release during the battle wasn't very consistent either. Yun Lan told me that she usually feels like this during her special time too. Okay, you guys rest first, especially Wang Bing. There are many rooms here, Wang Bing and I will each have a room, Yang Liu and Xiao Ke will each have a room. If you need to take a shower tonight, you can call me. I still have plenty of hot water in my storage ring."
After saying this, Li Chenglong put down his backpack and handed it to Yang Liu, asking her to help him unpack it. Yang Liu was initially reluctant, but agreed after Li Chenglong insisted again. Li Chenglong went into room number one first, while Yang Liu and Chen Xiaoke chose the room next to his, and Wang Bing chose a room further inside. The doors were all connected electronic locks, but the power had long since died, so the group opened the doors easily and went inside. As soon as Yang Liu entered and locked the door, she said, embarrassed and annoyed, "I want to see why Captain Li made me unpack his backpack." Yang Liu opened it and found several packets of sanitary products inside, various brands. Chen Xiaoke also ran over to look, "Huh? Why does Brother Li have so much of this in his bag?" Yang Liu bit her lip without saying anything, picked up one packet and a pair of underwear, and rushed into the bathroom. Chen Xiaoke then took out more items and found that there were even women's underwear, which made her even more curious. However, after thinking for a while, she understood and just giggled. At this moment, Yang Liu slowly walked out, her face still slightly flushed. Seeing Chen Xiaoke smiling, she immediately rushed over, hugged Chen Xiaoke, and tickled her. The two of them laughed and played together.
Li Chenglong entered the room and found it spotless, untouched by time, save for a few dusty patches from lack of use. He tidied it up briefly, then checked the time; there were still over three hours until their agreed-upon 5 PM meeting time. He retrieved a military telescope from his storage space, opened the curtains, and began to carefully observe the room, making notes as he went.
Just then, a knock sounded at the door. Judging from the frequency of the knock, Li Chenglong knew it wasn't Yang Liu and her group. Looking through the peephole, he saw it was Zhao Liying. After a moment's thought, Li Chenglong opened the door. "May I ask what you need?" he asked. Zhao Liying smiled and said, "I came to thank you for fighting that giant zombie and saving us." Li Chenglong nodded. "It was nothing. Besides, it was those three who saved you; I wasn't involved. We appreciate your gratitude." Li Chenglong was about to close the door when Zhao Liying stepped forward to stop him. "I also wanted to ask you about the outside world. To be honest, we've been here for over two months, but I've never been outside and know nothing about it." With that, Zhao Liying winked at Li Chenglong.
“Okay, come in.” Li Chenglong said, and Zhao Liying immediately revealed a smile that was hard for others to detect, then walked in gracefully. Zhao Liying sat on the sofa as soon as she entered. Seeing that Li Chenglong had locked the door, she smiled and said, “Why were you in such a hurry? You even locked the door.” But then Li Chenglong slowly spoke: “Level 2 A-grade Nine-Tailed Fox Awakener, attributes: Constitution 20, Strength 15, Agility 15, Spirit 48. Passive skill: Charm, which greatly amplifies one's charm, making one's image in the other person's mind several times more beautiful, even to the point of obedience over time, but ineffective against women. Active ability: Spiritual Attachment, which allows one to emit a wisp of spiritual energy to attach to others to gather information.” Zhao Liying exclaimed, “How did you know my secret!” Then she saw the golden vertical pupil in Li Chenglong's right eye, and then fainted.
Fifteen minutes later, Zhao Liying slowly woke up and found herself lying on the sofa. She quickly checked her clothes and, finding them intact, breathed a sigh of relief. Looking up, she saw Li Chenglong and Yang Liu each sitting on a single sofa. Yang Liu smiled and said, "Captain Li, she's awake." Li Chenglong, who was recording his observations of the hospital, looked up at Zhao Liying and then said, "Yang Liu, you ask her." Yang Liu immediately asked, "What's your purpose in coming here, and how did you become a superhuman?"
Zhao Liying smiled wryly and said, "I'm just very curious about you guys, especially Li Chenglong. I only sense one kind of energy from others, even that dual-elemental ability user who died before only had one kind of energy. But from him, there was a reaction of two kinds of energy, and it was unfathomable. And I saw it when you were fighting just now. He appeared in front of the little girl in an instant, and then disappeared with her in an instant. The bow and arrow also disappeared from his body, but he didn't give off any feeling of ability user energy fluctuations. He was just like an ordinary person." Li Chenglong chuckled, "We're in the same boat in that respect. Those two people have been with you for so long, and they didn't even realize you were an Awakened One."
Zhao Liying began, "This is also to protect myself, which is why I haven't publicly displayed my powers. As for why I became a superhuman, it's because I was accidentally bitten on the leg by a zombie during the evacuation from the hotel. Later, I was afraid of being discovered, so I wrapped several layers of gauze and bandages around my leg. Luckily, it was winter and I wasn't discovered, but there were too many zombies and we couldn't break through. Then I started having a fever, and after two days, I discovered that I had abilities. Then the government broadcast about crystals and superhumans, and that's when I learned that I had become a superhuman. After those two people came, I didn't dare to show my abilities, so I could only use some crystals under the pretext of liking pretty ones, which is why I'm only at level two now."
Li Chenglong nodded without speaking. Zhao Liying said anxiously, "My mental energy from those two people detected that they wanted to harm you and take your things for themselves." Li Chenglong didn't respond to that question but instead asked, "Why did you betray them, and why did you trust us?" Zhao Liying stared at Li Chenglong's face and said calmly, "Because of what I saw and heard. When you were having your meeting after fighting the zombies, I actually overheard something with my mental energy. You didn't blame each other for your mistakes, but instead took responsibility for yourselves first. Moreover, Captain Li risked his life to save the little girl. People like that are definitely not bad. I wasn't with them to begin with, so there's no question of betrayal."
Zhao Liying had been talking too much and her throat was a little dry. She coughed twice, and Li Chenglong immediately tossed her a bottle of mineral water: "Drink some water first, then we'll talk." Zhao Liying drank half the bottle in one gulp and continued, "I want to make a deal with you. I'll tell you their action plan, and you take me with you, how about that?" Yang Liu looked at Li Chenglong, seemingly asking for his opinion. Li Chenglong smiled and said, "Even if those two do something, we can easily wipe them out. Your exchange condition isn't very good." Zhao Liying said anxiously, "How can I get you to take me with you? How about I become your girlfriend?" Yang Liu, who was drinking water, suddenly spat it out, spraying it all over Li Chenglong if he hadn't dodged quickly. Li Chenglong shook his head: "Don't use that method. We're short-handed right now, and your abilities are very useful to us. If you're willing to join our team, I'll take you with me, and I promise that once peace is restored, you'll be able to do whatever you like and be free."
Yang Liu then spoke up: "If you're willing, you can sign up with me, but my training is quite strict, and I will treat everyone equally. But think it over, if you change your mind after signing up, you'll be treated as a deserter and executed on the spot!" Zhao Liying replied without hesitation, "Okay, I'm willing, I'll sign up now." Yang Liu wrote Zhao Liying's name down in her notebook, and then the three of them discussed the evening's operation before parting ways.