Infinite Ebullience
Chapter 956 - 15 The Benefits of Being a Group Leader

Chapter 956: Chapter 15 The Benefits of Being a Group Leader

"Get lost!" Tang Zheng growled, freeing himself from the two women and diving into his sleeping bag. He put on headphones to listen to music and ignored them further.

Teng Yuanxiang smiled. Tang Zheng’s character had a bit of male chauvinism; he was obviously the type who would never hit a woman and liked to shoulder all responsibilities. He may have looked stern, but he was actually very gentle and considerate of others.

"He’s a good man!" Teng Yuanxiang suddenly sighed. Why were all the good men never hers? Being with him, she felt a strong sense of security. She remembered their previous encounters; faced with danger, most people would think only of themselves, but he had insisted that she and Shi Jing run first, staying behind alone to fend off the enemy.

Watching Tang Zheng sleep with his back to them, Shi Jing felt relieved from the narrow escape but her expression then became uncertain, a bit disappointed. After all, women always hope to attract the attention of any man.

"Do you think he’s reliable? Are you regretting it now?" Teng Yuanxiang glanced at Shi Jing and snorted, "Honestly, I really want to monopolize him all to myself."

Shi Jing was silent and crawled into her sleeping bag.

Because Tang Zheng’s trio had found an incomplete map, they could find a relatively safe place to rest, while other survivors were still struggling to find a way out. More than ten hours had passed, and a total of sixty-five people had died, nearly one tenth of the team gone, including a misfortunate newcomer who had just become a Conqueror and had the bad luck to encounter several Blade Matriarch Bugs and was devoured.

In a starship filled with danger, any miscalculation could lead to death.

"Damn it, if only I were with Tang Zheng!" Pang Meiqin was green with envy. When they were teleported into the starship, her squad consisted of five people, then they were ambushed by bugs and two died; now only a university student scouting ahead and the clumsy Yao Feng were left, a significant reduction in combat power that nearly drove her crazy.

Jing Xiang was lucky to be teleported with Dantai. Otherwise, with her terrible ability, she would have certainly died there. Lu Fan and Qin Yan were together; the natural stupid had entered Li Xinlan’s squad. Despite the difficulties, they were making steady progress.

In a narrow, dark passage, Yu Manli’s team moved forward carefully. Drops of water seeping from pipes dripped onto the floor, making ’pitter-patter’ sounds that, in the silence, brought an oppressive sense of panic. The heavy breathing of the two newbies alone could suffocate a cow.

"Only when I act alone do I realize how exhausting it is." Yu Manli lamented, leaning against the wall and catching her breath, "I really miss the days when I teamed up with Tang Zheng; I didn’t have to worry about anything."

Ruan Feifei, who followed the university student with a gun, remained silent but inwardly agreed with her. To get out of such a treacherous environment was incredibly difficult, and she had no idea what approach to take.

"All that pride and self-esteem are nonsense in the face of death. Ugh, I hate this kind of situation the most." Yu Manli didn’t want to die, especially after enjoying those high-tech products, she cherished life even more.

Yu Manli’s age had extended, and her aging slowed, her skin began tightening, and the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes disappeared. In every gathering, she was the focus of wealthy ladies asking about her secrets to maintaining her looks. Seeing those women aging, Yu Manli felt even luckier.

"I will not die." Under immense pressure, Yu Manli began to consider her future survival strategies. She wanted to rely on Tang Zheng, but that man was too stubborn, ignoring a beautiful woman presented to him on a platter, really leaving her unsure about what he was holding onto.

"I miss the sunbathing in Hawaii so much!" Ruan Feifei recalled her world travel. That was what life should be, not the daily grind, as exhausting as a dog’s, and having to put up with harassment from the station manager and officials; it was disgusting, "But I should find a man to enjoy love. Otherwise, life is too monotonous."

For some reason, the image of Tang Zheng popped into her head, and then the anchorwoman quickly shook her head, casting him out.

"Damn it, why make Tang Zheng the standard?" The anchorwoman was proud, so she liked to compare, feeling that the man she found at least had to be no worse than Tang Zheng. Otherwise, she couldn’t hold her head up in front of Qin Yan and the others. But after going through her acquaintances, Ruan Feifei realized there wasn’t a single man who could match Tang Zheng.

"Is Tang Zheng really that great?" Ruan Feifei couldn’t stop recalling how she had met Tang Zheng, then her thighs unconsciously clamped together as she remembered the scene where she had lost control in front of him.

Five hours later, before the alarm clock went off, Tang Zheng woke up on time, quickly packed up his sleeping bag, and erased any sign of their camp.

Shi Jing had not slept, and counting the actual time, she had been up for over thirty hours, so her eyes were swollen. Teng Yuanxiang, on the other hand, had slept soundly. Awakened by the university girl, she sat up with a languid charm, completely unconcerned about her exposed chest as she stretched leisurely.

"I’m only waiting for five minutes, and I won’t wait any longer," Tang Zheng said, handing Shi Jing a bottle of water. He took another bottle for himself, took a sip for a mouthwash, and checked the map without giving Teng Yuanxiang another glance.

"Unromantic." Teng Yuanxiang slipped her fair legs into her protective clothing, zipping it up and pulling on her knee-high boots.

To save bullets, Tang Zheng carried the heavy Magnetostorm Rifle on his back and picked up a captured undamaged AK74M. He had tested it and found that gunpowder firearms could also blast through the bodies of Camel Bugs.

After walking five hundred meters and entering another Beehive Cabin, dozens of Camel Bugs immediately rushed out and attacked them.

Rat-a-tat-tat, the crisp gunshots echoed through the cabin. The Camel Bug at the forefront took a bullet to the head, bursting into a spray of blood before collapsing.

"Fall back!" Tang Zheng shouted, with the rifle butt against his shoulder, quickly shifting the muzzle after each single shot. In front, a continuous line of Camel Bugs were being killed.

For a moment, the growls of the Insect Race filled the ears.

Through the ACOG scope, Tang Zheng could see parts of the Camel Bugs being magnified repeatedly, giving him the feeling of playing an FPS game, but one mistake could cost him his life.

Yellow brass casings were ejected, clinking crisply as they hit the ground. Even before he finished emptying the drum magazine of a hundred rounds, more than twenty Camel Bugs had fallen, yielding great results.

Seeing Tang Zheng suppressing the bugs, Teng Yuanxiang gathered her courage and moved over, raising her gun to shoot. She knew that simply trying to seduce him would be useless; she also needed to prove her value.

"Aim for their heads and hearts, those are usually the weak spots for most monsters, but don’t be careless, some of them might play dead," Tang Zheng said with ease, even taking the time to share some of his experience with Teng Yuanxiang, "When facing an unknown monster, don’t panic. After killing one, make sure to summarize your findings to pinpoint their weaknesses."

Tang Zheng pulled out a drum magazine and quickly pressed the magazine release button. With a tap, he ejected the magazine that still had two remaining rounds and slammed in a new one, the entire process taking less than a second. It was fluid and gratifying to watch, and the rhythm of the gunshots never skipped a beat.

"Shi Jing, if you are too timid, you have no chance of surviving," Tang Zheng’s expectations for the university student were dashed. She was too scared to fire and was crouching on the ground, starting to cry.

"It’s a pity, your frail behavior won’t evoke sympathy from the bugs; instead, it will make them think you’re weak and vulnerable, like a rich dinner." The gunshots stopped because Tang Zheng had killed all the Camel Bugs. Before him, corpses were strewn all over the ground.

"I could have let you dissect the corpses and get used to it gradually, but time is exactly what I’m short of now, so you’ll have to save yourself." Suddenly, Tang Zheng grabbed a bug corpse and threw it onto Shi Jing.

Startled by the sudden attack, Shi Jing screamed, her face splattered with disgusting blood.

Tang Zheng no longer paid her any attention and continued forward.

"He’s very gentle, but too bad you’re too stupid," Teng Yuanxiang shook her head. In her view, Shi Jing was already as good as dead, having not seized a chance to be acknowledged.

With the map for reference, Tang Zheng’s movements became purposeful and much faster. However, after half an hour, he had to slow down as bloodstains and human remains appeared on the floor of the passage, indicating that a battle had occurred nearby.

"Be on your guard." Tang Zheng switched to a Heavy Magnetostorm Rifle and pulled up the Tyrannosaurus hood. Luckily, there was lighting, otherwise, he would have taken a detour.

Carcasses appeared, but they were so mangled and bitten, showing white ribs, that it was impossible to determine their identities.

When Teng Yuanxiang was about to speak, Tang Zheng made a silence gesture. Those rifles were rubbish and not worth picking up, so he continued leading the way.

Thirty meters later, a second body appeared. Its head had been gnawed, leaving it pockmarked, its brain pulp sucked out, surrounded by blood splattered like an oil painting.

Tang Zheng entered the Beehive Cabin and saw a body clad in Unicorn Protective Clothing, his eyes sharpened. Usually, only Conquerors could afford such equipment, and the fact that it had been killed indicated a very powerful monster.

Teng Yuanxiang was good at reading the room; seeing Tang Zheng’s grave expression, she stuck close to him, watching their surroundings with even greater concentration. Shi Jing, on the other hand, was lacking, unsure of what to do.

Tang Zheng quickened his pace, wanting to leave this place rapidly, but just as he dashed into the passage, he felt a powerful gust press down from above as the Blade Matriarch Bug pounced.

Tang Zheng dived forward, rifle raised and firing, while spreading all his shields. Not knowing the enemy, he went all out.

Boom, the Blade Matriarch Bug hit the ground and let out a sharp screech, lunging at Tang Zheng. The Magnetic Storm Balls that struck it only chipped away at its outer layer, splashing a few drops of blood but failing to inflict significant damage.

Swish swish, the Blade Matriarch Bug swung its sickle-like forelimbs, firing off blades of air that struck the shields.

The screech was a sonic attack. Tang Zheng, being at the forefront, got hit and his head suddenly spun. Then, the Blade Matriarch Bug was upon him, striking his shield with a blow.

Teng Yuanxiang and Shi Jing were so scared they almost wet themselves, wanting to run but finding their legs too weak to muster any strength. Compared to the Camel Bugs, the monster before them was far more fearsome and fierce, seemingly born for slaughter.

Tang Zheng, however, didn’t show any fear at the sight of the Blade Matriarch Bug. He kicked out, striking its head, and using the recoil to escape its attack radius, then he raised his gun and fired away.

.....

PS: The monthly ticket count is so low, could I get a few as consolation? (To be continued. If you like this work, feel free to vote for it with recommendation tickets and monthly tickets on Qidian. Your support is my greatest motivation.)