Song Tian looked ordinary but had a broad, solid frame with a subtle military bearing in his gestures. Although Wang Lin was arrogant, he seemed to listen to Song Tian's words, so he just snorted coldly and turned his head away, no longer speaking.
However, his gaze kept straying towards Ling Mo from time to time, and he would occasionally glare at Xia Na with impatience. Unfortunately, neither Ling Mo nor Xia Na responded to his actions.
After asking Li Yu about the situation, Song Tian dismissed him and then invited Ling Mo and others into his "office."
As the Boss of the camp, this residence differed from those plain rooms on the second floor. It was not only decorated but also furnished, seemingly inhabited before the end of the world arrived. Song Tian's office was one of the bedrooms that had been modified. The unnecessary furniture had been removed, leaving only a bed, a desk, and a four-seater sofa.
For some reason, Wang Lin also followed them in, sitting on the bed with a sulky expression on her face.
"Take a seat, don't worry, everything has been cleaned," Song Tian leaned against the desk and motioned for everyone to sit on the sofa. But he added something unnecessary, making Liu Yuhao and Wang Cheng, who had just sat down, reveal a strange expression.
His words implied that someone had died on that sofa...
However, after so many days of struggling to survive in the post-apocalyptic world, even Wang Cheng had developed a certain resistance in these two days. They could sit on a pile of corpses, let alone on a sofa where someone had died.
"Just now, Li Yu said that it was our people who dragged you down, and for that, I am very sorry."
Hearing Song Tian's apology, Wang Lin immediately huffed in dissatisfaction beside him.
Ling Mo originally wanted to say it was nothing, but seeing Wang Lin's reaction, he couldn't help but snort coldly and said, "We were living fine there, but once your people arrived, we had to abandon our shelter. Changing the place is no big deal, but it's a pity that the supplies we had painstakingly collected were all left behind."
Hearing Ling Mo's words, both Liu Yuhao and Wang Cheng's expressions became somewhat awkward. They had left in a hurry, that was true, but apart from a climbing rope, Ling Mo didn't seem to have lost anything, right? Speaking of these things at this time, was he expecting the other party to make compensation? But let's not forget, this is their camp, and in this post-apocalyptic world, supplies are more important than life itself. Even though Song Tian seemed amiable, expecting him to offer up something in compensation was wishful thinking.
But if they could think of this, could Ling Mo not have considered it? If he dared to ask, he must have his reasons.
The first being the presence of Xia Na; she wouldn't let Song Tian do anything excessive, thus ensuring things wouldn't get too ugly. The second was having combat strength as a backup. Not to mention Ling Mo himself; just Xia Na and Ye Lian, the two female zombies, could turn the camp upside down. Although some of the people here were quite skilled, their prowess was still a far cry from that of a Mutated Zombie.
Most importantly, Ling Mo didn't intend to rob them.
After he finished speaking, he gave Wang Lin a particularly dissatisfied glance, and Song Tian caught this look immediately.
Ling Mo's message was clear: not only have you brought trouble upon me and caused me to lose supplies, but now you're also demanding something from me!
Song Tian instantly felt a headache coming on. He had personally witnessed the scene of Ling Mo killing the Mutated Zombie, so he was somewhat wary of Ling Mo's strength. That was why he had temporarily stopped Wang Lin, aiming to find a more amicable way to retrieve the short knife. But now that Ling Mo had put it this way, it was hard for Song Tian to bring himself to ask.
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Adopting a tough stance by force? Even though this was happening in his own camp, Song Tian, who had worked so hard to establish it, naturally didn't want to see any trouble arise. Keep in mind that the camp wasn't established for very long. Even though on the surface it seemed orderly, there were still many internal issues. To forcefully seize a short knife for himself, such actions could be done by others, but as the camp's leader, he absolutely could not.
In the apocalypse, strength is the capital for speech, but at the initial stages of establishing the camp, Song Tian knew he needed to win over the hearts of the people below him.
Most crucially, upon his first glimpse of Ling Mo, Song Tian had a thought—to keep Ling Mo and his group! Having a strong individual capable of taking down a Mutated Zombie join the camp was like an injection of a heart-strengthening drug!
"Really sorry about this..." Song Tian, ignoring the eye signals Wang Lin kept sending him, said with a tough scalp, "Well then, Mr. Ling, what do you think we should do..."
"Just call me Ling Mo," Ling Mo said, furrowing his brows and pondering for a while, "I am aware that your camp has many people and must be very low on supplies, I don't plan on asking for compensation... but this short knife..."
Despite Wang Lin's almost murderous look, Song Tian put on a show of generosity with a laugh: "It's just a short knife, consider it a gift to you!"
A short knife in exchange for a new member with excellent abilities, a worthwhile trade! As for Wang Lin... it won't hurt to bear her contempt for a few days...
"Hmph, coward!" Wang Lin cursed angrily as she stormed out slamming the door.
Song Tian then gave an awkward smile and continued: "It's really unfortunate you've lost your shelter and belongings, I truly feel bad about it. How about this, our camp also lacks manpower currently, would you like to join us?"
The camp might have been small in scale, but Song Tian's abilities were evident from this, earning Ling Mo's respect. But to join the camp? Forget it. Staying amongst a crowd of survivors with two female zombies, especially doing this for a long time, was far more thrilling than dancing on the edge of a knife. Moreover, the two female zombies, particularly Ye Lian, needed to continually consume Gel for their Evolution, and joining the camp would impose too many restraints, while he himself needed to hunt Mutated Zombies.
Therefore, without hesitation, Ling Mo shook his head and said: "Thanks, but the two of them and I have other matters to tend to, so we can't join your camp at the moment. However, my friend here does have quite the ability." He said, turning his gaze towards Liu Yuhao.
This result left Song Tian extremely disappointed, but considering Ling Mo didn't completely shut down the idea, Song Tian secretly felt there was still some hope. After all, Xia Na was Wang Lin's cousin!
So with this thought, the look of disappointment on Song Tian's face faded quite a bit as he followed Ling Mo's gaze to Liu Yuhao: "Are you willing to join? And what about you?"
The second person he asked was naturally Wang Cheng. Hearing this, Wang Cheng looked at Ling Mo with some unease, and then resolutely nodded: "I'll join!"
It was clear that the camp was no place for idlers, and as a young man with intact limbs, Wang Cheng was also expected to go out to collect supplies. Thus, Wang Cheng's decision was a significant commitment.
Not join? Ling Mo wouldn't provide for him! And the most vital thing was, in his heart he knew that Xia Na, who was close to Ling Mo, was actually a zombie!
Staying with a zombie sooner or later, such a thrilling and risky undertaking was something Wang Cheng felt his heart couldn't handle. But with Wang Lin around, he dared not expose the truth. Who knew what Wang Lin's attitude towards Xia Na might be, and besides, Xia Na looked completely normal on the outside; who would believe him if he revealed it? Offending Ling Mo without any certainty would be suicidal...
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