Chapter 8

After knocking Mario Brothers down, the new water tower owner, Kirk, officially took the stage.

Just as expected, the position was high, the space was vast, and the view was wide. With the help of a telescope, Kirk could even see more than 2,000 meters away, clearly and distinctly.

Having received the space prompt: "You have occupied an ideal high ground, established a watchtower, and started your mission," Kirk began to keep a lookout. More than two hours passed quickly, and everything was calm, with nothing happening.

Kirk started to organize his thoughts; it was time to think about what to do next. His current attributes were quite average. Only by completing the richly rewarded hidden main quest could he reach the level of an ordinary person. (Kirk: This pit is too deep!) He had no special skills or hidden talents.

According to the little fatty, his hidden talent was "Abnormal Metabolism," with a base metabolism much faster than others, exceeding 2000. The negative impact was that he ate a lot and quickly entered a state of hunger, and his attributes would temporarily drop if he didn't eat. However, the benefits were also obvious: his stamina recovery speed was 25% faster than that of an average contractor, and his poisoning duration was reduced by 25%. The most powerful talent, it was said, belonged to Ma Ruiqi. This woman had "Talent of Charm," which allowed her to pass charisma checks with a +5 advantage, making it almost impossible for her to fail in seducing men! No wonder Rick was so captivated by her that he couldn't even listen to his wife Lori.

In the space, one thing was certain: contractors without unique advantages and strengths found it very difficult to survive, whether in a team or on their own. What were his advantages? What was his role? Long-range output? Close combat? Main tank? Support? Reconnaissance? Kirk fell into deep thought, feeling quite lost.

Until a gunshot broke the silence.

Kirk quickly found the direction from which the gunshot came. These inexperienced newbies had indeed caused a big mess by going out to抢枪抢粮抢女人 (抢枪:抢夺枪支; 抢粮:抢夺粮食; 抢女人:抢夺女人)! At the 3 o'clock direction, Huang Mao was running in panic, and the few punk men and women behind him were no longer acting arrogantly, running faster than rabbits! Huang Mao was holding a bag, which should contain the guns and ammunition they had collected. Unlike a certain shut-in who often got chased by zombies, their speed should be faster than that of ordinary zombies, but due to psychological factors and the zombies surrounding them from all sides, Huang Mao and his group were in a panic. One of the women couldn't run anymore and was caught and dragged down by the zombies. She was still shouting something, but it was too far for Kirk to hear.

Then, she was eaten alive, still conscious as the zombies tore off bloody chunks of flesh and ate them in front of her tear-streaked face! The woman was so terrified that she screamed for a full minute before she stopped struggling. By the time she died, half of her flesh had been torn off.

Kirk felt a chill in his heart. The woman was a contractor like him, but when she was eaten by the zombies, it was no different from the first man he saw being eaten when he first entered the space.

Contractors were no better; once eaten by zombies, they were just rotten meat in their stomachs.

Misfortune never comes alone. At the 6 o'clock direction, a group of zombies emerged on a small town's main road, crazily chasing a group of people. From the familiar round human figure running at the front, it seemed to be the cute fatty and his group.

They had gone to rob food but ended up being treated as food themselves.

Kirk watched the chaos and suddenly realized the severity of the situation. These two groups of newbies were quite inexperienced. In the face of danger, they probably wouldn't think to avoid bringing the zombies back to the car camp. Seeing the terrified and disheveled Huang Mao and his group, who were so scared by the woman's screams that they wet their pants, they were running as fast as they could, hoping to reach the camp quickly. It was unrealistic to expect them to remain rational. Sally's group was no better.

So, he fired a warning shot. Rick, Shawn, and others ran out of the camp. Kirk pointed to the 3 o'clock and 6 o'clock directions and then indicated a large group of zombies. Rick's face turned grim, nodded to show he understood, and then withdrew.

Kirk knew this was the space's arrangement; the plot characters couldn't directly support them. Whether they could escape and return was up to fate.

At this moment, gunshots were heard from the highway. Kirk went to check.

It turned out to be Ma Ruiqi and her group of "lone heroes," leading a large group of zombies along the highway, running like mad. Among the zombies chasing them, there were even fully armed riot police zombies! Kirk knew they had actually found the prison! However, the unfortunate part was that the inexperienced newbies who were preparing to attack the prison were pushed back and even brought the zombies back to their home!

Three zombie armies were now heading towards this small car camp!

"No wonder there were four branch missions. It turns out that if the first three failed, the fourth one would be the key. What a ridiculous setup," Kirk couldn't help but complain.

So, he fired another warning shot, passing the bad news back to the camp.

Soon, the camp was in chaos, with the plot characters preparing to defend.

Kirk observed the highway again. That was actually the best escape route for the plot characters, but it was now filled with zombies. Ma Ruiqi, wearing high heels, stumbled and fell. A middle-aged man who had been running in front of her. Ma Ruiqi had always had a good relationship with him and, without hesitation, ran back to help her.

Then.

Then!

Ma Ruiqi unexpectedly stabbed the man's thigh with a dagger, snatched his submachine gun, and nimbly got up, taking off her high heels and running away. She was no longer struggling to run! This woman's agility was clearly not low!

The man roared in anger but was quickly caught by the zombies and dragged to the ground...

Kirk saw Huang Mao abandon his female teammate, leaving her to fend for herself, and saw Ma Ruiqi's ugly betrayal of her teammate. He shrugged, giving up the idea of immediately rescuing them, and aimed his M16-5.56mm assault rifle at the 6 o'clock direction where the fatty was.

The M16 had a range of 800 meters, and he needed to reserve 500 meters for his own escape. The 300 meters the zombies would advance was the time he had to shoot. Kirk didn't have the "Basic Large Firearm Mastery" skill, so his accuracy wasn't great, but with the zombies as numerous as flies in a toilet, he just needed to shoot randomly to get some results.

Honestly, standing on this high ground and watching others struggle in the water was quite a pleasant experience!

A zombie was almost about to catch the fatty when a bullet hit it. The zombie flew out and couldn't get up for a while.

The fatty was so moved that he almost cried, having almost been eaten alive. Later, he came to thank Kirk, curiously asking, "Bro, you're so strong, you can use both pistols and M16s. Where did you learn these skills, or did you figure them out yourself?" Kirk shamelessly said he didn't have the M16 shooting skill, and the fatty was shocked, asking why he could shoot so accurately, even at a zombie just over a meter from his butt. Kirk even more shamelessly said he was just shooting for fun, with no pressure, and that it was a responsibility-free rescue. Shooting zombies was better, and if he hit the fatty, it would be a relief from being eaten alive. The fatty almost died from shock.

Seeing Kirk shooting from the water tower, the group's morale was greatly boosted, and they ran even faster!

After emptying two magazines, Kirk saw the fatty and his group basically escape, and he started to provide covering fire in other directions. Although Huang Mao wasn't very decent and Ma Ruiqi was even more ruthless, they were still part of their team. The Governor was still lurking, and a significant loss of team strength would not be in his best interest.

Kirk emptied four magazines, seeing the zombies rush to within 500 meters, and then calmly descended from the water tower. Although he didn't have the shooting skill, the zombies were so dense that his random shooting still resulted in over 40 kills.

The other two groups also received his covering fire, which to some extent slowed the zombies' advance, allowing them to escape into the camp with their lives.

As Kirk ran into the camp, the space prompt said: "Contractor 4444, you have completed the Dangerous Watcher mission. Based on your performance, you are rewarded with 1000 survival points, 2 basic attribute points, and 2 skill potential points. For killing zombies, you are rewarded with 136 survival points. You have earned 10 team contribution points. Team contribution points can be used in three ways:

1.

To purchase team items, weapons, and equipment, find Lori.

2.

To buy skills from team plot characters, find any team member.

3.

To influence team decisions, find Rick."

The team gathered to take stock. This operation had resulted in the loss of three new members. All three task groups had failed. The gun bag Huang Mao had taken was abandoned halfway, resulting in failure. Sally's group brought back too little food and water, also resulting in failure. Ma Ruiqi's group found the prison but was driven back, also resulting in failure. They gained nothing and had to thank Kirk for saving them. Kirk was very low-key, saying he was just lucky and that it was a small matter.

The two women with insufficient combat power stayed in the camp and completed the nursing home nurse task, earning some fixed rewards, which turned out to be more than the rash and brainless guys.

At the next team meeting, the usually active new members were silent. The plot characters discussed and concluded that since the three main roads were surrounded by zombies, they could no longer escape by car. They needed to hold off the zombies from three directions and send people to retrieve the abandoned gun bag to strengthen their firepower.

The space issued a new mission: "Due to your reckless actions, most of the missions have failed, and the team is now in danger. Please choose a branch mission:

1.

Assist the plot characters in defending the camp.

2.

Assist in retrieving the abandoned gun bag to strengthen the camp's firepower."

Huang Mao's group did not take the mission to retrieve the gun bag, just staring at everyone with cold eyes.

Kirk was determined to learn combat skills from Mori, and this was a rare opportunity. He chose to assist in defending the camp, handing his empty M16 to Rick and standing next to Mori. He had already gained enough attention, and retrieving the gun bag would make him a target. He understood the principle that the tallest tree in the forest is the first to be cut down.

However, the Korean man grunted and stood up, going with the agile Green to complete the mission, clearly feeling the loss from the previous failure.

Rick organized everyone to form a simple fort with cars, reinforcing it with wooden boards and steel plates, distributing guns and ammunition, and organizing people to defend in sections. Fortunately, it was daytime, and the zombies' activity was not strong. The plot characters were relatively capable, so the chances of a successful defense were high.

The page turns, and the AD begins.

The page turns, and the AD ends.