Everyone revealed their weapons. Some had knives, others had crossbows and arrows. But there were no firearms. Clearly, this team was relatively weak in terms of firepower. No wonder they were always selling information.
The main reason was their lack of capability to handle more challenging situations.
Waldo drew his katana. Instead of a handgun, he chose close combat. He wanted to test his upgraded physical abilities and see where he stood among the survivors. He hadn't had the opportunity before, and now he couldn't miss it.
Everyone thought it would be a one-sided massacre. And indeed, it seemed that way. However, the outcome turned out to be unexpected. Waldo single-handedly took down three people in an instant, intimidating the others from approaching further.
Even Waldo was surprised. He had initially thought his physical abilities might be slightly superior to other survivors, but he didn't expect to be this overwhelmingly strong. His speed was so fast that Mia's teammates couldn't even aim their crossbows at him.
Blood flowed from Waldo's katana as he swiftly eliminated three armed survivors. "Stop, we surrender!" Bob quickly called for a halt. They knew that if Waldo continued, none of them would survive.
Bob, eager to protect his daughter's life, anxiously said, "May I ask for your name? As long as you release Mia, I promise to agree to any conditions!"
Waldo nodded and said, "I am Waldo.I don't want much. Just give me the katana blueprint. Also, I'm curious about why Mia wasn't infected after being bitten by a zombie."
Bob readily agreed, "There's no problem with the katana blueprint; it's in Mia's backpack. You can take it if you let Mia open her bag."
However, Bob hesitated afterward. Waldo narrowed his eyes and approached Mia. He hung the katana around Mia's neck and coldly said, "It seems that Bob isn't so concerned about your daughter's life after all. Even in such a situation, you're still hiding something!"
Bob became anxious. Seeing his precious daughter in possible danger, he hastily said, "Wait, wait! I'll tell you. Waldo, don't act impulsively!"
The second-in-command of Bob's team, standing nearby, tried to intervene. He urgently said, "Boss, this won't do! That thing is the foundation of our team. If you reveal it now, it will bring us disaster!"
But Bob couldn't listen to anyone's advice. He only cared about his daughter's safety. The reason Mia wasn't infected after being bitten by a zombie was because we obtained an antivirus serum.
Waldo suddenly realized. That was the reason for Mia's abnormality. Learning that Mia was immune to the zombie infection due to the injection of the antivirus serum, Waldo couldn't help but feel envious.
If both he and Alanna could inject this serum, it would provide significant security. In the apocalyptic world, the biggest threat was still the zombies.
If they could be immune to infection, with a bit of caution and hiding in a secure place, they could survive until the end. He had to obtain the antivirus serum.
This was the first time he had such a strong desire. "I can spare your daughter's life and even let all of you leave unharmed. But I must have the antivirus serum in exchange!"
Bob frowned, but in the end, he gritted his teeth and agreed. "Fine, I agree."
However, Bob's second-in-command strongly objected, "Boss, this won't do! If we give away the antivirus serum, we'll lose everything! Our future depends on the serum. By giving it away now, you're cutting off our path to success!"
Bob's face darkened, and he sternly rebuked, "Dale! You need to understand that I am the leader of this team. I make the decisions. If you want to go solo, I won't stop you. But as long as you're part of this team, I am in charge. Do you have any objections to my decisions?"
After a brief standoff, Dale finally pursed his lips and nodded.
Fine, fine, you're the boss! All of you damn well listen to the boss!
Waldo watched Bob and Dale argue, his eyebrows slightly furrowed.
He didn't care about these internal conflicts.
He only cared about the antivirus serum!
Impatiently, Waldo said, "Hand over the antivirus serum quickly, and I'll release the hostages. It's a simple exchange. Bob, there's no need to drag this out, right?"
Bob smiled and explained, "Waldo, you don't know, but the antivirus serum is in extremely limited supply. For safety reasons, we didn't carry it with us but assigned someone to guard it. We need to go back and retrieve the antivirus serum before we can make the trade with you."
Waldo nodded, accepting this explanation.
Then he proposed a condition, "Then I'll trouble you to bring twenty vials of the antivirus serum to the usual place three days from now, at noon. We'll exchange the hostages and the goods simultaneously."
Upon hearing this exorbitant condition, Bob immediately grew anxious.
"Waldo, we can't produce twenty vials of the antivirus serum!"
Upon hearing that, Waldo's face immediately turned cold.
He slowly brought the tip of his blade closer to Mia's neck and sneered.
"I made a sincere offer, but I didn't expect you to play games here! It's just twenty vials of antivirus serum, and you say you can't provide them?"
Bob explained helplessly, "Waldo, it's not that I lack sincerity. Mia's life is in your hands. How could I not be honest? But the truth is, we don't have that many vials of the antivirus serum!"
Waldo pondered for a moment and understood.
Indeed, if something like the antivirus serum was available everywhere, it would be questionable.
The threat of zombies would decrease significantly.
So, Waldo changed his tune.
"Fine, I won't make it difficult for you. Eight vials of the antivirus serum, and no less."
But Bob still shook his head and said, "Waldo, eight vials!"
"That's all the antivirus serum we have. Initially, when we opened the supply crate, we obtained nine vials of antivirus serum. One was used by Mia, who was unfortunate enough to be bitten by a zombie. We kept the rest."
"The remaining ones are all yours, Waldo!"
Waldo carefully studied Bob's expression and felt that he wasn't lying.
"Alright, eight vials it is!"
Next, Miss Mia will stay in my place for three days. After three days, according to our agreement, we'll meet here and make the exchange, hostages and goods simultaneously.