binnovel Chapter 8 Canteen Troubles
Chapter 8 Canteen Troubles
At noon, Li Chenglong slowly woke up in a hospital bed on the eighth floor, feeling sore all over and with a sharp pain in his right eye. Thinking about how much effort he had exerted to kill so many zombies yesterday, he couldn't help but feel a lingering fear. "I'm still too weak," Li Chenglong thought. He then focused his mind on his spiritual sea, discovering that the third level of the Martial Power Tower was almost full. Li Chenglong tried to communicate with the Dragon Spirit, but found that no matter what he tried, he couldn't connect. The Dragon Emperor Sword had also lost its luster, silently hovering above the spiritual sea. Remembering the Dragon Spirit's last words from yesterday, Li Chenglong couldn't help but feel anxious.
Suddenly, Yun Lan's voice rang out: "You don't need to call anymore. Long Ling has entered hibernation due to excessive exhaustion and won't wake up for the time being." Li Chenglong turned his head and saw Yun Lan leaning over, staring at him with her large eyes. "Captain, you're finally awake! If Xiao Feng hadn't assured me you'd definitely wake up, I wouldn't know what to do." Li Chenglong sat up. "I'm sorry to have worried you. You mentioned Xiao Feng earlier, who is that? Does she know about Long Ling?" Qin Lan opened her right palm, and a fire phoenix appeared in her palm before disappearing. Yunlan smiled and said, "I also awakened my spirit body, and I did it half a month ago. A month ago, under Captain Han Yang's command, we went to deal with that biohazard incident, but we were not well prepared and had too little intelligence, and several brothers sacrificed their lives. I was also infected at the time, but after a night of high fever, I didn't turn into a zombie. Later, I received a message from a mysterious person and learned that this was what awakening meant. Yesterday, on our way here, we killed a lot of zombies, and I suddenly found a voice in my mind, a little girl who could turn into a phoenix. She taught me how to use my powers. She told me that I also awakened my spirit body, but because I was overexerted in the battle in the early morning, my spirit body needs some time to recover, and she told me not to worry."
Li Chenglong stared at Yun Lan, looking her up and down. "No wonder I sensed other awakened individuals and even felt a faint warmth when we were almost at the hospital. It turns out our team's beauty, Miss Yun Lan, has awakened." Qin Lan rolled her eyes at Li Chenglong and said, "Your sister, Wang Yong, and Wang Shengli are all worried about you, but they're busy right now because they just finished a fierce battle. I'll go get them." Li Chenglong's heart sank. "What's our situation now?" Yun Lan's smile also faded. "Not good. Wang Yong's Second Company at the Jinghai Base only has about 60 men left. Our Xiaolong Squad, including you, has 4 men. There are also some people from the Jinghai Armed Police Criminal Investigation Team and the local police station, making about 30 men in total. That means we only have about 100 men left who are ready for battle."
"How many survivors are there?" Li Chenglong asked again. Yun Lan thought for a moment, "This morning's count showed 422 people, mostly young and middle-aged, with quite a few children, but fewer elderly." Seeing the conversation becoming increasingly heavy, Li Chenglong said, "There's someone in our squad named Yun Qian, isn't she your sister?" Yun Lan replied, "Of course not. You know our Xiaolong squad changes our names. My real name is Qi Wan, but you can still call me Yun Lan from now on. By the way, will we call you Captain Jin Zhanlong or Li Chenglong?" Li Chenglong thought for a moment and said, "Li Chenglong is fine. Now the Xiaolong squad is down to just the four of us, practically defunct, so I'll go back to my original name." Yun Lan nodded in agreement.
Li Chenglong recalled learning the True Eye skill last night, which supposedly allows one to see the attributes of both allies and enemies, as well as the weaknesses of opponents. He looked at Yun Lan: Yun Lan, a Level 3 Awakener, with Constitution 50, Strength 50, Agility 57, and Spirit 60. Currently, she possesses the skills Meteor Shower Level 3, Flame Slash Level 2, Balanced Development Level 3, and Fire Phoenix Power Level 1, making her an S-rank Fire Phoenix Spirit Awakener. He himself had Constitution 60, Strength 55, Agility 55, and Spirit 54, with Explosive Light Bullet Level 3, Balanced Development Level 3, Cold Weapon Proficiency, Fire Weapon Proficiency, Storage Space Level 3, Energy Strike Level 2, Dragon Emperor Sword Level 1, and True Eye. He was an S-rank True Dragon Spirit Awakener. "It seems there are still differences between different Awakeners," Li Chenglong thought silently.
Seeing Li Chenglong still standing there in a daze, Yunlan screamed in fright. Li Chenglong snapped out of his thoughts and said, "Let's go downstairs and take a look." He then led Yunlan downstairs. Just then, they ran into Li Xue carrying a lunchbox upstairs. Seeing her brother come downstairs, she immediately handed the lunchbox to Yunqian and rushed into Li Chenglong's arms, saying, "Brother, you're finally awake! I was so worried about you. Please don't do this again next time." Li Chenglong patted Li Xue's back and said, "Then you two should grow up quickly so I don't have to work so hard every time." Li Xue said, "I'm level three now too! I'll definitely be able to help you next time." It turned out that Li Xue had also successfully advanced to level three this morning while cleaning up the remaining zombies. "Really? My sister is amazing!" Li Chenglong said with a smile, while simultaneously using his True Eye to observe his sister: Li Xue, Level Three Awakener, Constitution 45, Strength 47, Agility 42, Spirit 55. Currently possesses the skills: Rapid Water Bullet Level 3, Super Perception, Purifying Power, Extreme Cold Ice Arrow Level 2, Energy Recovery Level 1, and Ice Shield Level 1. An A-rank Mermaid Spirit Awakener. "So my sister is quite the support," Li Chenglong patted his sister's hair. Li Xue, with so many people around, quickly brushed Li Chenglong's hand away: "Hmph, she's really powerful now."
At this moment, Yun Qian walked over, took the lunchbox, and said, "Captain Li, you must be hungry after not eating for so long. This is food we made in the hospital cafeteria. Li Xue and I served you some. That's all we can offer, so please have some." Li Xue said, "I didn't help at all. Actually, it was Sister Yun Qian who served you some in advance." Li Chenglong said to Yun Qian, "Thank you. I was just about to go downstairs to check on things. Let's go to the cafeteria together." With that, he led Yun Lan and Li Xue downstairs.
The cafeteria at Jinghai City First People's Hospital was on the third floor. It was quite large, capable of accommodating over 400 people. Just as Li Chenglong arrived at the cafeteria entrance, he heard an argument. "My child just threw away a steamed bun! Do you have to talk to my son like that? He's just a child. Do you know how much your insults will affect his fragile heart?" a man said fiercely to the cook. Li Chenglong approached a police officer maintaining order: "What happened?" The officer, recognizing the hero Li Chenglong, hurriedly tried to salute, but Li Chenglong stopped him: "We're all brothers who eat from the same pot, no need for that." The officer then began to explain.
According to the regulations for distributing supplies, each person could only eat two steamed buns and two servings of vegetables per meal. If they didn't want steamed buns, they could ask for a serving of rice. Children under 8 years old could receive one steamed bun, a carton of milk, and a serving of vegetables per meal. However, the boy, who was clearly 16 years old, still asked for milk. The cook criticized the boy, and the boy threw the steamed bun into the trash can. Later, the cook scolded the boy a couple of times, and the boy's father started arguing with us. Yunlan was furious when she heard this: "What kind of time is this to be so picky? Yesterday, we and Zheng Yong, a total of more than 20 people, went to the grain and oil store on South Street to move grain. Two brothers from the Jinghai base sacrificed their lives. It's one thing for them not to be grateful, but they also wasted food." Li Chenglong gritted his teeth, rushed over, and slapped the man, sending him flying. The man immediately vomited blood and spat out two teeth: "He hit people! Soldiers hit people! Don't think that just because you saved us you can hit people!" But not many people joined him.
Li Chenglong said calmly, "If a son is not taught, it is the father's fault, so I'll hit you first." Then he turned to the boy and said, "16 years old, still a child? I was already sweating buckets on the training grounds of the military camp when I was 17. Don't want to eat, is that it? Fine, Yunlan, you send someone to keep an eye on him. Give him food only when he finishes this steamed bun. Also, for the next 7 days, his food will be halved." Li Chenglong took the steamed bun from the trash can and put it on the table. Then he, along with Yunlan, Li Xue, Wu Gang, Zheng Aiguo, Yun Qian, and others, got their food and sat down at a table to eat. The 16-year-old boy seemed terrified and burst into tears, but instead of comforting him, many people looked down on him and whispered among themselves. The middle-aged man also got up from the ground, covered in dirt, and helped the boy to eat. But a policeman had already walked over with a steamed bun he had picked up from the trash can.
At this moment, about a dozen exhausted soldiers came to get their food. The person serving the food immediately started serving them, giving each of them three steamed buns, two side dishes, and a bowl of soup. Then, some people started whispering, and others said, "Why are they getting more than us?" Before Li Chenglong could speak, Yunlan immediately erupted, shouting at one of the young men, "Shut your stinking mouth! Do you know who they are? They are the people searching for supplies in the district. Every grain of rice and every vegetable you eat here was obtained through their hard work. Yesterday, two of our brothers sacrificed themselves to transport food from the grain and oil store. They didn't die on the front lines, but on the way to help you. We soldiers also have hearts and livers; we are also born of parents and raised by parents, flesh and blood." Yunlan started crying as she spoke. Li Chenglong picked up his steamed bun and placed it on the man's table. Then he asked Yunlan to invite the captain of the supply search team and said, "Captain, starting this afternoon, make him one of your members. Isn't he envious that you eat more than him? I'll give him mine. If he dares to desert his post, he will be treated as a deserter."
The young man was immediately terrified, breaking out in a cold sweat and collapsing to the ground. The search team leader, seeing the young man's cowardly state, said, "Captain Li, someone like him will only be a hindrance. We'd be better off with a dog. You guys eat slowly; we have a mission to complete after we finish." He then returned to the food queue. Li Chenglong and the others finished eating and went to wash their lunchboxes at the sink. They were about to go find Zheng Yong to see if there was anything they could do when Zheng Yong arrived at the canteen with a grave expression.