Infinite Ebullience
Chapter 473 - 31 Tess’s Gift

Chapter 473: Chapter 31 Tess’s Gift

Li Meilian was a popular candidate for the modeling contest champion, not lacking in terms of beauty, to say nothing of her figure.

Seeing the female model, Tang Zheng tutted, roughly pushing her aside, hopped off the bed, and stretched lazily.

However, Li Meilian didn’t give up, she pounced at him, hugging Tang Zheng.

"Learn some experiences to survive instead, it would be more useful." Her arms around his waist were tight, making Tang Zheng uncomfortable,

"No, then why do you take care of Li Muqing? What do I lack compared to her?" Li Meilian was not so stupid to not know her advantages, "We’ve been through a game already, shouldn’t I be more worth cultivating? Also, I have a Seed Ability."

"Don’t overthink it, I’ll cook, you wake up Li Muqing." It was only because of the chaos following the recent battle that he hadn’t refused Li Muqing that day. Now, he had many things to do, such as utilizing the maps he found from several forts.

Having watered wildflowers once and eaten, Tang Zheng handed the Thunderstorm and Magnetic Storm rifles to the two women, somewhat enhancing their firepower.

At ten o’clock in the morning, Tais and her mother arrived at the front line again. But this time they were not here for food, the wayward woman was carrying a turkey and handed it to Tang Zheng with gratitude in her smile.

Tang Zheng didn’t refuse, took the now cold turkey. Upon seeing him take a bite, the woman let out a visible sigh of relief. She was afraid that Tang Zheng would look down on her, think she was dirty, and refuse even this small gift.

"Don’t come tomorrow, I’ll be leaving," said Tang Zheng regarding his fort. He had noticed something off about this woman’s gaze the previous day, as if she had made up her mind about something, and he wanted to make it clear before he left.

"Alright," the woman said without any unnecessary words, simply nodding her head.

"Brother, look, Tais’ doll." The blonde loli gently cradled a broken-armed Barbie doll and offered it to Tang Zheng like a treasure, babbling about her encounter with the little fellow.

The Barbie doll’s silver hair was burnt, its princess dress torn and tattered, not to mention the scratches on its face. But to the blonde loli, it was a precious treasure, she wouldn’t let anyone else play with it if she didn’t trust them.

"What a piece of junk." Li Muqing scoffed, clearly disliking the mother and daughter.

Tais blushed, her outstretched hand stiffened, then she lowered her head without looking at Tang Zheng again, silently taking back the Barbie doll.

Tears dripped onto the ground, wetting the area around it.

"It’s very pretty." Tang Zheng took the Barbie doll and smiled, "Can you give it to brother? My sister has been wanting a doll for a while."

"Yes, yes," Tais nodded eagerly. Even though she was choked up and coughing, Tang Zheng noticed a strong reluctance in the blonde loli’s eyes. He did not know this Barbie doll was the first toy Tais ever owned after she was born.

Of course, in little Tais’ heart, it was not just a toy, it was a companion that helped her withstand pain. Whenever she was too hungry, hugging this broken Barbie doll eased her discomfort. Tais didn’t want to cause trouble for her mother, so her only ’friend’ became the one she confided in.

"Alright, as a thank you gift, Brother will give you a fun toy." Tang Zheng turned around and ran into the fort. When he came back out, he was holding a cute silly looking Duoduo Luo doll, originally intended as a gift for Lu Fan, but didn’t end up giving it due to item usage restrictions.

"So cute." Tais hugged the Duoduo Luo doll in her arms, the fluffy feeling instantly made her feel warm. She wanted to rub her cheek against it but then remembered how dirty she was and regretted the thought.

"Thank you." The woman bowed to Tang Zheng. Seeing her daughter’s happiness, she felt a bit of guilt and relief.

"After eating, leave as soon as possible. And don’t go to the base, there’s going to be a war there. It’s better to find a remote piece of land to live alone." Tang Zheng packed a combat backpack full of canned food and the native currency he found on the soldiers’ bodies, and then handed it to the woman.

"Thank you so much." The woman, with the heavy backpack on her back and her face filled with happiness, knew that the supplies would help them get through the coming cold winter. "Tais, come and say thank you to Brother."

Little Tais rushed into Tang Zheng’s arms and kissed his cheek.

"So much food." Seeing the mother and daughter off, Li Meilian was somewhat unsatisfied.

"I have so much food that it’s going to spoil. Giving some away is nothing." Tang Zheng extinguished the campfire, pondering the feasibility of his plan. After a few terrible days, he was done waiting. If he kept doing things by the book and couldn’t complete the mission, he would probably die. So, he had to instigate a war between humans and beastmen now. Only in a state of turmoil would there be a chance for change. As for the ones who would die? That was not his concern. All he cared about was the mission to return to the Trojan Room.

"Let’s just treat them as non-player characters," Tang Zheng hypnotized himself, then found An Ping with the two women.

"How is An Ning’s injury?" Tang Zheng skillfully unwrapped the bandage, reapplied the medicine, and re-bandaged it after.

"The fever isn’t breaking." An Ping tried to hold back his tears as he quickly wiped them away, afraid his brother would see.

"Did big brother come?" As the effect of the anesthetic wore off, An Ning’s face was covered in beads of sweat from the pain. His smiling face pale as a sheet, and even his lips were cracked and peeling.

"Yes, just relax and rest, you’ll be alright," Tang Zheng prepared to give him another shot of the anesthetic, but An Ning stopped him.

"I don’t want to be a burden, I can bear this pain." An Ning was afraid he might sleep through the front line, where beastmen could attack at any moment, and his brother would run away leaving him behind...

Gazing at his brother’s young but already toughened face, An Ning felt heartbroken. He had been pondering this issue all night due to the pain which kept him awake. Now, he had made his decision.

"Alright then, I’ll go to the other forts and see if there’s any news from Dantai and the others." Tang Zheng was about to leave when the ground subtly vibrated, and the quiet roar of engines and burrowing beasts slowly came into focus.

"It’s the beastmen." Li Muqing was all too familiar with that sound, quickly grabbing her rifle. An Ping’s eyes were fixed on Tang Zheng, "You carry him, I’ll cover the rear."

"What nonsense are you talking about? How can just one of you hold back the beastmen’s army? Hurry up and run, carrying your brother. And the two of you, stop staring blankly, run!" Tang Zheng pushed Li Meilian, signaling them to leave the house.

With a legless An Ning on his back, fighting wasn’t a problem for Tang Zheng. He wouldn’t miss that little bit of strength, and An Ning could even shield him from bullets, but it wasn’t necessary. Even if An Ping was at his full strength, he could only handle about twenty beastmen at best. In the end, Tang Zheng would have to clean up the situation himself, and An Ping might end up caught in the crossfire too.

"But we had an agreement!" An Ping was anxious, thinking that Tang Zheng was planning to break their deal.

"Idiot, listen! Otherwise, we’ll all die," Tang Zheng slapped An Ping on the head, "If I really wanted to run away, I would’ve left you all behind long ago."

"Oh, I’m sorry." An Ping wasn’t stupid, he quickly realized that Tang Zheng was going to cover their retreat. His heart filled with both guilt and gratitude.

"We don’t have time anymore." The ground suddenly shook more violently, causing it to feel like a level 5 earthquake. It was clear that the burrowing beast was surfacing. An Ping was still carefully moving his brother when Tang Zheng quickly picked An Ning up by the collar and placed him on An Ping’s back.

"A big bug just hit the ground." Li Muqing yelled, looking at the giant worm-like creature that required seven or eight people to wrap their arms around. Her legs went weak and she almost collapsed.

When Tang Zheng rushed out of the fort, he had already taken out a cluster hand grenade the size of a tire. He pulled the pin and hurled it forcefully toward the burrowing beast about fifty meters away.

The aim was excellent. The hand grenade fell directly into the burrowing beast’s open mouth. With a loud bang, a large hole was blown in its body, and its viscous body fluid mixed with chunks of flesh was scattered over tens of square meters.

"If we went to the Olympics to compete in the shot put, we’d surely win at least a silver medal," Tang Zheng joked, trying to ease the tension. "Run, don’t shoot."

Seeing the injured burrowing beast fall, the slow-witted Li Meilian immediately started to sweep the area with continuous magnetic storm balls, wasting dozens in the process. The sight broke Tang Zheng’s heart. Even if these were spoils of war that didn’t cost money, they shouldn’t be wasted like this.

Whether the burrowing beast was dead or alive didn’t matter anymore, it had completed its mission. One by one, fully armed beastmen carrying heavy assault rifles appeared from the underground tunnels and began a desperate charge.

As soon as Tang Zheng’s words fell, the two women began to run wildly. No woman could remain calm at the sight of a group of ugly beastmen, their mouths lined with disgusting drool, chasing after them. Especially Li Meilian and the others, who had seen the beastman captain ravishing a woman from Myanmar...

Tang Zheng rested the chainsaw gun on his shoulder. With every pull of the trigger, the muzzle shifted slightly. In the rhythmic bursts of gunfire, beastman soldiers were shot in the forehead and fell to the ground. In less than eleven seconds, there were fifteen corpses lying on the ground, completely wiping out one and a half small squads.

The beastmen’s retaliatory gunfire arrived immediately. Tang Zheng didn’t dare to show off. Staying in one place for more than ten seconds without getting shot would have been a miracle. He slightly slowed down the enemy’s advance and immediately began to retreat,