Infinite Ebullience
Chapter 1200 - 73: Pursuit and Killing

Chapter 1200: Chapter 73: Pursuit and Killing

Within less than five minutes, Kong Licheng and his party gathered in the living room downstairs to discuss plans with Tang Zheng. Although there were still concerns about him turning into a zombie, his formidable combat abilities and his meticulous thinking undisputedly made him the group leader, and no one could shake his status.

"What do we do next?" Zhao Dongtao didn’t bother to tax his brain, and as soon as he saw Tang Zheng coming down, he directly asked for guidance, willingly becoming an enforcer. He had taken the opportunity to rest earlier and dug a hole to bury Xiao Wang so now, he was shirtless and drenched in sweat.

"Sorry, I didn’t get to see Xiao Wang." With so many classmates dead, Tang Zheng was nearly desensitized to it; he had planned to go see him later but was unexpectedly interrupted by a notification from Trojan.

"It’s fine, you’re busy." Zhao Dongtao waved his hand and took a seat on the sofa.

"Stop the small talk, let’s focus on the serious business at hand." Kong Licheng was unfamiliar with America and felt uncomfortable making decisions, "How long will it take us to get to New York?"

No one knew. The fifty-some newbies hadn’t traveled abroad and looked at each other puzzled, causing an awkward silence.

Susan hesitated to speak and eventually didn’t dare to, quietly standing next to Tang Zheng. Last night, because of Tang Zheng’s near-death experience and being ignored by him, the American girl felt utterly alone and terrified, almost losing her mind. When the mutated creatures attacked, she hid in a wardrobe and was lucky enough to survive.

"What do you want to say?" Tang Zheng gave Susan a reassuring look and patted her shoulder.

All eyes from the newbies turned towards Susan, making her feel extremely uncomfortable, but she plucked up the courage to speak.

"From here to New York, by airplane, it’s a little over two hours, and by car, it’s about six hours."

"That long? Let’s take a plane," Kong Licheng immediately rejected the idea of traveling by land. The mission given by Trojan was surely difficult; reaching New York and then locating and extracting Eve would take a long time, and he couldn’t afford to waste even an hour.

"Nice thinking, but do you have money? Do you have a passport? Without these, how are you going to fly?" The traffic police looked down on this capable but overly cautious man, and his tone was quite harsh.

"Then we’ll find a way, we can even hijack a plane if we have to. Anyway, in this world, no one cares if you kill." Tong Dahong was willing to do anything to survive, and although some newbies didn’t speak up, they were eager to try.

"You won’t even get to board; I guess you’d be caught as soon as you entered the airport." Zhou Meng found Tong Dahong to be idiotic, spouting nothing but useless nonsense.

"Can we only go by car? Six hours, and our prospects will be as cold as the yellow flower vegetable." Tong Dahong was discouraged, tapping his foot on the ground incessantly in agitation.

"What ideas do you have?" Tang Zheng still asked Susan, though he wasn’t very hopeful as she wasn’t a native.

"We could take the Greyhound bus," Susan thought she was being useful, completely oblivious to the differences between America on the two timelines.

Some newbies disagreed, voicing their opinions, and the living room turned into a noisy scene.

Tang Zheng didn’t speak. Tao Ran had finished cooking the instant noodles and brought them down, handing them to him.

"Thank you!" Tang Zheng didn’t stand on ceremony. He was hungry and began to eat, seemingly ignoring everyone else, while also thinking about their situation. By the time he finished, the newbies still hadn’t reached a decision.

"Quiet." Zhou Meng didn’t want to wait any longer and shouted, "Tang Zheng, you decide. No matter what, we need to leave as soon as possible."

"Considering Trojan’s behavior, it’s very likely that New York City will also be attacked by the biochemical virus. We’ll take the bus and en route, we’ll get some welding equipment to reinforce it," Tang Zheng stood up, "I’m giving you five minutes to get ready, then we’ll gather on the west side of the small town with the Hummers."

"Everyone must bring enough ammunition for five people, and each Hummer must have ten AT-4s. Traffic police, you’re the deputy group leader. You arrange for those who can drive to take turns driving the truck filled with weapons." Tang Zheng needed people to help him with miscellaneous tasks, and these potentially offensive orders could be handled by the traffic police, drawing fire away from him.

The traffic police hadn’t thought that much into it and was thrilled to rightfully supplant Kong Licheng as the team’s second-in-command. It made him feel that his contributions were finally being recognized.

"Kong Licheng, Tong Dahong, with your formidable combat strength, you can drive the weapons truck separately." The traffic police immediately began assigning roles. "I’ll find people to rotate with you."

"Why? With our strength, we should be guaranteed rest so that we can perform at our best during combat," Tong Dahong complained, thinking the traffic police was misusing his authority. He was afraid of Tang Zheng but not the traffic police.

"I already said we’d rotate, what, are you the exception?" The traffic police stared back fiercely. His views differed from Tong Dahong’s, and although he admitted there was some truth to his words, this was his first command, and he wasn’t going to let anyone question it. Otherwise, his credibility would be gone, and he wouldn’t be able to command anyone in the future.

"What, looking for a fight?" Tong Dahong was not one to back down easily and rolled up his sleeves.

"Coward, don’t go talking about your combat strength. I don’t know who it was who, facing monsters, only thought to run away." The traffic police mocked Tong Dahong without giving him any face. "If you don’t want to do it, then get out of the team."

"Heh, the team operates under Tang Zheng’s orders," Tong Dahong’s face turned a bright red with rage as he laughed derisively.

The traffic police’s bravery was there for all to see, so the newbies sided with him, and Tong Dahong lost his popular support. After a few verbal skirmishes, he found himself outmatched.

Tang Zheng went upstairs earlier in the morning and, listening to the commotion below, felt quite satisfied. This way, there was no need to worry about cliques forming. Tong Dahong’s and another’s issue of cowardice also had to be addressed soon.

A minute later, Tang Zheng, dressed and with Dong Zixuan sleeping on his back, climbed aboard an Armored Humvee, followed by Black Long Straight, who was in charge of carrying the backpack.

Tang Zheng would have preferred to take a tank or at least an Infantry Armored Car, but these guzzled too much fuel. Although he could store a bit in oil barrels, they would have to be swapped out soon. Rolling out with military vehicles, he estimated they wouldn’t get far before someone reported them and attracted a squad of soldiers.

The newbies argued again over who got to ride with whom, with everyone naturally wanting to cram into Tang Zheng’s car, but space was limited.

Liu Man finally managed to claim a spot next to Tang Zheng through their connection, which made her ecstatic. If it weren’t for the crowded carriage, she would have loved to cozy up to Tang Zheng.

The fleet hit the highway, starting the journey towards New York. Less than an hour after they left, Li Wenbo appeared in the small town, driving a Maserati sports car. Removing his sunglasses, he scanned the area and smiled upon seeing Uncle Wang’s corpse.

Approaching the corpse, Li Wenbo bit his index finger, dripping a few drops of blood onto it. The corpse immediately came back to life, crawling toward its severed limbs. The wound writhed, miraculously rejoining itself.

"Pity, the heart was destroyed and couldn’t be repaired," Li Wenbo noted the remains of the Mutated Creature, whistled, and drove off. Uncle Wang became a Licker, leaped a few times, and landed on the back of the car, becoming his servant.

"There’s a rest area ahead, let’s take a break and refuel," the pathfinding traffic policeman, holding the sound pickup, reported to Tang Zheng. The fleet had been on the road for over two hours, and the monotonous drive made everyone drowsy, with a few people who got carsick vomiting all over the place.

"Alright, announce to the fleet to stop at the upcoming rest area for a 20-minute break," Tang Zheng said, glancing at the sun’s position, which was approaching noon. Dong Zixuan in the back was probably about to wake up as well.

Liu Man glanced back, saw everyone resting, and, emboldened, reached for Tang Zheng’s crotch.

Slap, Tang Zheng slapped away Liu Man’s hand and glared at her fiercely.

With a forced smile, Liu Man didn’t dare to touch him again. However, she deliberately pulled down her collar, exposing one of her breasts, trying to tempt Tang Zheng.

Tang Zheng didn’t look askance and ignored her.

This was a rest area on the highway, not big, but with all the facilities, like a gas station, a supermarket, public restrooms, and even an inn. However, there was hardly any sign of people.

Tang Zheng spotted a Greyhound bus and hesitated whether to seize one. The armor on the Hummer was good, but too ostentatious. Moreover, with the crew spread out, if a battle were to occur, their cowardly nature would certainly prevent mutual support. Furthermore, the interior space of the Humvee was too cramped for quick movements, the defensive coverage was too small, the vehicle-mounted machine guns were handy yet dangerous, and the firepower was insufficient...

"Kong Licheng, take some men and take control of the gas station employees," Tang Zheng ordered as the fleet stopped outside the gas station. A young man in uniform walked out towards the military vehicles, but his brow furrowed upon seeing the passengers were not soldiers. He turned and ran back into the room and came out again, this time with a shotgun in hand.

"Who said you could get out of the car?" The traffic cop was exasperated when a woman who got out was carsick. As soon as the car stopped still, she ran out and squatted to vomit on the ground.

"Who are you?" the man shouted, raising his shotgun.

Just as the traffic cop was about to negotiate, Kong Licheng fired, executing a long single shot that hit the man in the chest, who immediately collapsed.

With his rifle slung over his shoulder and whistling, Kong Licheng began refueling the Humvee. He suddenly liked this lawless feeling.

"What are you doing?" the traffic cop watched as a few people who heard the gunshots came out to look in their direction.

"What’s there to be afraid of, I’ll take care of it." Kong Licheng, with his rifle ready, ran over and opened fire on sight, a complete thug, and Tong Dahong too got carried away, roaring and venting his frustration.

"You all refuel; I’ll get us a bus," Tang Zheng said, ignoring Kong Licheng’s violent actions. Not finding the bus driver on board was a minor issue, as drivers typically wore the company uniform and would be easy to locate.

"Are we free to move around?" Zhang Antai eyed the supermarket and asked the traffic cop, "Everyone’s hungry."

"Go ahead, just don’t cause trouble," the traffic cop nodded, pointing out two miners to stay put while he too left to restock supplies, needing to replenish as well.

"Brother Liu, don’t forget to grab some food for us," the two miners squatting on the ground were about to light a cigarette but, remembering they were at a gas station, quickly snuffed it out.

The newbies felt they had secured the gas station and relaxed considerably, unaware that Li Wenbo was racing toward them in his sports car, just a ten-minute drive away. (To be continued. If you like this work, we invite you to come to Starting Point (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation votes and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)