pertwk Chapter 328 Going Out
Chapter 328 Going Out
"Big crow, big crow!"
Lin Fan called out to it again and again in his sea of consciousness.
But no matter how he called out to it, the big crow did not respond at all.
Even when his consciousness entered his sea of consciousness, he couldn't see the spiritual phantom of the Great Crow.
This……
Where did it go?
Lin Fan stared out the window, his mind filled with questions.
Of course, he wasn't worried about Da Wu's life. After all, given its size, in this world, besides him, probably no one else could take its life.
He was just wondering what could affect the other person.
It should be noted that Da Wu's mental strength is extremely terrifying.
The fact that it can influence, and even now, sever the connection between them, suggests that the other party may indeed be in trouble.
Lin Fan couldn't help but start to think.
"No, we have to go find it."
After all, the other party was his underling, and had followed him all the way...
If something happens to it, or if it gets controlled by something, I'll feel guilty.
Even if the other party is just an octopus!
With this in mind, Lin Fan made a decision: he would set off tomorrow.
……
Early the next morning.
Lin Fan found Lin Jianguo, summoned Night Owl and several other high-ranking officials, told them about his upcoming trip, and then assigned tasks related to the base.
Soon, after explaining everything, he began to prepare to travel light.
Now, as time goes by and the outside world changes more and more, in order to avoid trouble, he decided to drive an off-road motorcycle that Zhao Lei had modified before.
"No, boss, I haven't even ridden this bike yet, and you're already..."
Upon hearing that Lin Fan wanted to borrow a motorcycle, Zhao Lei immediately wore a bitter expression.
Lin Fan didn't bother with any more words and simply stretched out his hand:
"Enough talk, here's the key!"
Seeing this, Zhao Lei reluctantly took out the keys, handed them to Lin Fan, and then asked:
"Boss, how about... you take me with you?"
"You'd better just go and dig the hole!"
Lin Fan put on his helmet as he spoke.
"I'm telling you, if I come back and see that you haven't dug the hole properly, I'll bury you!"
"Alright, don't worry. I'll make sure I dig it up for you!" Zhao Lei patted his chest with a grin.
Seeing this, Lin Fan didn't say anything more. He turned the key, revved the engine, and waved to the crowd in front of the building...
boom--
The off-road motorcycle roared off.
……
Leaving Raccoon City, head northeast along the highway...
After the motorcycle drove out of Raccoon City, Lin Fan looked at the road that was in terrible condition and couldn't help but admire his foresight.
If I had driven, I would have wasted a lot of time on the road. Luckily, I rode a motorcycle.
Along the way, there were only desolate wastelands and collapsed buildings on both sides.
There was a faint stench of decay in the air, a very typical apocalyptic smell.
I wonder what the situation is like in China right now?
After riding for about an hour, we were about 70 or 80 kilometers away from Raccoon City.
The road conditions ahead were even worse; in some places, even motorcycles couldn't drive.
Seeing this, Lin Fan simply hid the car behind some ruins and started walking instead.
After all, this car belongs to Zhao Lei. If it gets stolen, that kid would be heartbroken...
However, not long after he switched to walking, and just after he had climbed over a small hill, he heard a noise ahead.
There was the sound of an engine and people shouting and cursing.
Are there any living people?
Lin Fan lowered his body, touched the back of a broken wall, and looked ahead.
At the bend in the road ahead, two dilapidated pickup trucks were parked.
There were more than a dozen people standing in the back of the truck, holding sticks, machetes and the like.
A three-wheeled motorcycle was lying overturned in the middle of the road, and several people dressed in tattered clothes were being dragged onto a pickup truck by thugs.
"Hurry up! What are you dawdling for!"
A bald, burly man kicked one of the slower survivors.
"If you don't behave, you won't get dinner tonight!"
The man who was kicked staggered but didn't dare to utter a sound. He was then grabbed by the arm and shoved into the back of the truck by another thug.
The truck bed was already crammed with seven or eight people, men, women, and children, huddled in a corner, their eyes numb.
Lin Fan frowned.
Is this a highway robbery?
Or should we conscript men?
Regardless, he concluded that this person was definitely not a good person.
He initially didn't want to get involved and planned to take a detour, but he stopped when his gaze swept over the people being crammed into the car.
Right now, Raccoon City is desperately short of manpower.
The construction team digging the underground warehouse was short-handed, and the agricultural and logistics teams were also asking for more people.
Victor has been urging us about this several times already...
Lin Fan crouched behind the broken wall, his mind racing.
He looked at himself...
He was wearing the work clothes commonly seen in the base, without any conspicuous weapons, and his face was covered in dust from the journey.
He looks like an ordinary lone survivor.
An idea popped into my head.
He immediately took the military dagger from his waist, stuffed it into his inner pocket, and covered it with his clothes.
Then he stood up and deliberately crushed a stone at his feet.
Click—
"Who?!"
The sudden sound immediately caught the attention of the bald, burly man not far away.
As he spoke, the dozen or so people around him turned to look at him, and at the same time, several homemade shotguns were aimed at Lin Fan.
Upon seeing this, Lin Fan immediately raised his hands and slowly walked out from behind the broken wall, his face showing a look of fear.
"No, don't shoot! I was just passing by!"
The bald man glanced at him a few times, then looked at his empty hands and slightly disheveled appearance, and waved his hand.
Two henchmen wielding machetes immediately rushed over, grabbed Lin Fan's arms from both sides, and pushed him in front of the bald man.
"Where did it come from?"
The bald man asked, poking Lin Fan's chest with the stick in his hand.
"Raccoon City... I ran away from Raccoon City."
Lin Fan stammered, "I was so hungry, I wanted to find some supplies, but I didn't expect..."
"Raccoon City?" The bald man squinted. "That walled base?"
Lin Fan nodded.
"What's it like inside? Is there food? Are there many weapons?" the bald man asked a barrage of questions.
"There is...there is food, but not much. The weapons are just some homemade guns."
Lin Fan lowered his head, his voice trembling.
"I sneaked out to look for something; I didn't dare tell anyone..."
The bald man stared at him for a few seconds, then suddenly laughed:
"Sure, they've come to me of their own accord."
He turned and shouted to the people behind him, "Second brother, caught another one! Looks strong and capable!"
A hoarse voice came from inside the truck bed: "Shove it over here!"
As the man spoke, Lin Fan was pushed and shoved toward the second pickup truck.
As he passed the first vehicle, he quickly glanced at the people in the truck bed...
There were about a dozen of them, all with their heads down, not looking at him.
Only one tall, thin middle-aged man raised his eyelids, quickly shook his head at him, and gave him a warning look.
Lin Fan ignored him, lowered his head, climbed onto the back of the truck, and shrank into a corner.
The truck bed was cramped and filled with the smells of sweat and blood.
No one spoke, and no one looked at him. Everyone shrank back, trying to minimize their presence.
As he was pushed into the truck, the pickup started up again, crunching along the bumpy road, seemingly heading nowhere.
After driving for about twenty minutes, the car stopped.
"Get down here, all of you!"
The bald man shouted from the front.
The truck bed door opened, and Lin Fan followed the others out of the truck, only then beginning to take in the surroundings.
Before us was a campsite enclosed by barbed wire and discarded shipping containers.
It's not large, but it looks quite impressive.
There was a makeshift guard post at the entrance, with two thugs standing guard with guns at the ready.
In the center of the camp were several rows of sheds made of canvas and sheet metal, and next to them was an earthen wall under construction, with dozens of people digging soil and moving stones.
There were quite a few people working; Lin Fan roughly counted at least seventy or eighty.
But there were also quite a few thugs guarding them, numbering twenty or thirty, scattered throughout the camp.
Just then, a man with a scar on his face walked over. He looked Lin Fan and the others up and down a few times, then his gaze settled on Lin Fan:
"Is this kid with them?"
The bald man nodded in agreement.
"Yes, they caught him on the street. They said he came from Raccoon City and wanted to search for some things."
Scarface sneered:
"Raccoon City? Isn't that supposed to be a pristine place? Why are people still running away from there?"
Without waiting for Lin Fan's reply, he leaned closer and asked, "You look so delicate and fair-skinned, what kind of work can you do?"
"I...I can do anything." Lin Fan shrank his neck. "I can move things, dig dirt, and repair walls."
"Okay, let's get to work first."
Scarface pointed to the group of people digging in the dirt.
"If you behave well, you'll get food, but don't even think about running away..."
As he spoke, he pointed to a pit not far away, "See that pit over there?"
Lin Fan looked in the direction he pointed and saw a pit in the corner of the camp, in which several corpses that had begun to decompose were thrown, and flies were buzzing around.
"That's what happens when you try to run away," Scarface sneered.
Lin Fan shrank back in fear and was pushed to the digging area.
An old worker silently handed him a shovel, lowering his voice:
"New here? Don't cause trouble, don't ask too many questions, just do your job."
Lin Fan took the shovel and, while shoveling dirt, asked in a low voice, "What's the situation with this camp?"
The old worker looked around, and seeing that no one was paying attention, whispered:
"I don't know either. When I was arrested, this group was already here. They were arresting people everywhere to do work."
"What are they digging? Fortifications?"
"have no idea."
The old worker shook his head.
"I heard that they seem to be looking for something underground."
"That scarred man and that bald man, I heard they're evolved beings with special abilities, so nobody dares to resist them."
"An evolved being?" Lin Fan's hands didn't stop moving.
"Um."
The old worker's voice lowered even further.
"Scarface can turn his hands into stone, they're really hard. Baldy is strong, he can lift a person with one hand. The two of them, plus dozens of thugs, have us, dozens of people, completely under their control."
"No one ran away?"
"How could no one have run away?"
A flicker of fear crossed the old worker's eyes.
"But those who ran away were all caught and beaten to death in public. After that, no one dared to run away."
Lin Fan nodded, asked no more questions, and focused on his work.
He observed for a whole day.
There were a total of ninety-seven survivors working in the camp, who were divided into three groups by the thugs.
One group built defensive fortifications, another group dug a deep pit in the center of the camp, and a third group was responsible for miscellaneous tasks and cooking.
On the rioters' side, including the bald man and the scarred man, there were a total of twenty-eight people. Twelve of them were armed, and the remaining sixteen were carrying clubs.
When it was time for dinner, Lin Fan stood in line and received a half-piece of hard bread and a bowl of bean porridge.
He saw that the older workers in front of him received even less, only a small piece of bread.
"Eat sparingly," a thin young man next to him whispered. "There might not be any left tomorrow."
Lin Fan finished the pancake in a few bites, drank some bean paste, and found a corner to sit down and rest.
The people around them huddled together for warmth, and no one spoke.
In the middle of the night, the campsite fell silent.
There were only two thugs patrolling the perimeter of the camp.
Lin Fan opened his eyes.
This is the moment he's been waiting for.
Although he could still fight during the day, there were many ordinary people in the camp, and if one died, he would lose one more laborer...
He took out a military dagger from his inner pocket, silently got up, and went outside.
Hiding in a corner and observing secretly for a while, he quickly found his first target.
It was a patrolling thug; he was leaning against the barbed wire fence, dozing off.
Lin Fan approached, his military dagger tracing an arc in the moonlight.
The man didn't even utter a sound before collapsing to the ground.
The second patrol of thugs was on the other side, with their backs to this side.
Lin Fan reached out and swiftly dispatched his opponent.
After doing all this, he turned around and went back to the shed where he had slept before, quietly approaching the old worker who had spoken to him during the day.
He gently touched the other person's calf with his foot.
The old worker woke up suddenly during the day and was startled to see Lin Fan.
"Don't make a sound," Lin Fan said in a low voice. "Trying to leave?"
The old worker was stunned for a moment, then his eyes lit up, and he nodded emphatically.
"Wake up the others, but don't make a sound," Lin Fan said. "Meet outside in five minutes."
The old worker immediately crawled into the shed, waking up one by one the people around him and whispering messages.
While waiting, Lin Fan went outside for another round, collecting some weapons and eliminating some potential dangers.
Soon, all ninety-seven survivors stood silently outside the shed.
Everyone looked at Lin Fan, their eyes filled with fear and confusion, but even more so with hope.
Lin Fan distributed the knives he had found to several young men who looked fairly strong, and pointed to the container where Scarface and Baldy lived: "Come with me, let's take care of those two leaders."
Twelve people followed behind him, silently making their way to the container.
Lin Fan kicked open the container door.
Scarface and Baldy were sleeping in bed when they were startled awake. The moment Baldy was awakened, he rolled over and grabbed the machete from beside his pillow.
But he didn't have time to swing.
Lin Fan's military dagger had already pierced his throat.
Scarface reacted a little slower, but his right hand was instantly covered with a layer of gray stone as he punched Lin Fan in the face.
Lin Fan dodged to the side, grabbed the other man's arm with his left hand, then pulled out the military dagger stuck in the bald man's throat and stabbed it hard into the scarred man's petrified arm.
"clang!"
The bayonet made a metallic clang as it touched the skin, but the stone on Scarface's arm cracked several times under Lin Fan's force.
Scarface's expression changed, and he grabbed the iron bar beside the bed with his other hand and smashed it down.
Lin Fan took a half step back to avoid the iron rod, and at the same time kicked the other man in the knee.
Scarface's legs buckled and he collapsed to his knees. Lin Fan raised his hand and struck Scarface hard on the back of the neck.
Scarface suddenly blacked out and fainted.