Chapter 18 Mini PK

At 11 p.m., Little Knife and Stone returned home with a pile of junk and injuries all over. Following the plan, Maya and Lin Wu set out to search the residential area on the right.

Maya's weapon was a machete, which clearly wasn't for beginners. Unlike blunt weapons, Sharp Blades could stiffen zombies face-on, but only momentarily, as blunt weapons could change zombies' movements, daze or even knock them down. Apart from being quiet, the advantage of Sharp Blades was that they only required half the stamina to swing compared to blunt weapons, making them a highly skill-dependent weapon.

Maya wielded her knife expertly, chopping left and slashing right, maintaining distance with a steady, slow retreat. She either chopped off zombies' hands first or went straight for the neck to decapitate them. Her movements were like flowing clouds and running water, casting cold gleams, a sight to behold.

Lin Wu couldn't help but ask, "Maya, what are your main and secondary attributes?" Not being familiar, he didn't want to pry into her privacy, but curiosity got the better of him.

After taking down the last zombie, Maya answered, "Main strength, secondary physique."

Continuing his curiosity, Lin Wu asked, "Didn't you add intelligence?"

Maya replied, "I don't need to add intelligence."

Show-off!

Lin Wu tumbled into rooms, while Maya patrolled outside; their first cooperation felt as natural as fish in water. After clearing the zombies inside, Lin Wu opened the door, Maya entered and closed it, and they began scavenging silently.

The furniture and curtains inside the residence could be dismantled into various garbage pieces. However, dismantling with Sharp Blades was inefficient and noisy, so they only searched without breaking anything. The residence held sundry items like potatoes, seeds, newspapers, mousetraps, common in everyday life, but considered peculiar in the game.

This residence was quite large and even had a garage. The garage had two doors, one was a roller door, and the other was a small iron door. The roller door was thoroughly locked. They had already scouted another garage before, which typically held tools. Different kinds of tools could enhance the speed and quality at the crafting station, so the garage was more valuable than the residence.

Maya leaned against the door as Lin Wu circled around the garage, confirming there were no zombies nearby. Maya nodded; Lin Wu pressed the iron door's handle with a click, the door lock came undone. Lin Wu and Maya exchanged glances, an unlocked garage was unexpected, suggesting an inside invasion and potential hidden zombies.

Lin Wu slowly pushed the door open, but Maya suddenly put her hand on his wrist to stop him. She took the flashlight from Lin Wu's chest to shine through the door gap and a wire appeared before them. Lin Wu's heart raced: If zombies could set traps, did humans stand a chance?

Maya lay down, wriggled her upper body through the gap, fiddled with the wire, retrieved a grenade from behind the door and after checking it, put it in her backpack. She observed the area with the flashlight before standing up.

This was a trap set by a human. The person who set it was sitting in the corner of the garage, already dead, with a Sawed-off Shotgun in his embrace. Lin Wu took the shotgun, scavenged the ammunition belt with 12 shotgun shells, and handed the shotgun to Maya, but she didn't take it, saying, "You keep it."

Maya had strong tactical awareness and immediately assessed that Lin Wu was best suited for the Sawed-off Shotgun based on its characteristics. Among the eight people at the farm and Shadow base, Lin Wu was the only one capable of using a shotgun, possibly even soloing a Frenzy. Maya didn't explain, and Lin Wu didn't grasp the implications of her words. However, his opinion of Maya slightly improved; at the very least, she had shown trust in him on this matter. She wasn't tempted by the best firearm they'd encountered so far.

They found some tools in the garage. Lin Wu gestured for silence as they approached the iron door, pushing it gently, only to hear human voices and the sound of furniture being dismantled from the associated residence. A man and a woman, the man wanting to make a handcrafted spear with a metal piece and a mop handle.

The two crouched and left the garage, returning to the street where two players were fighting a zombie. Maya whispered to Lin Wu, "Resurrected players." She pointed ahead, signaling to ignore them. Along the way, they found more resurrected players searching for usable items at a traffic accident scene and further on, a base established by resurrected players.

"If the 30 houses on both sides of the road are all used to establish bases, with their safety zones overlapping, wouldn't this area become a safe community?" Lin Wu whispered back to Maya.

Maya responded, "Thirty bases, roughly a hundred people, facing limited resources from just a few shops in the town's center, they will inevitably clash. The town's resources can't possibly sustain so many people. However, your idea is insightful; we could send individuals to build subsidiary bases to expand the safe zone area."

Agility seemed to enhance hearing. Lin Wu made a 'hush' gesture and the two of them crouched at a corner of the wall, listening intently. They could only hear the distant roars of Frenzy, unable to pinpoint its exact location or assess the distance between them and Frenzy. Maya made a swift decision, "Let's go home," and they abandoned the remaining eight objectives.

...

"Sister," a man at the entrance of a base called out to Lin Wu and Maya as they passed, stepping out of the safety zone and asking, "We're short on people in our base, are you interested in joining?"

Maya answered, "I have a base already."

"Nice gear," the man surveyed the duo's backpacks; the machetes, daggers, shotguns, and crossbows hanging off the side were all high-end products. On the first glance, the man thought about robbing them, but realizing he was outmatched, he amiably said, "Then I won't bother you," and walked back to his base.

Lin Wu wasn't as perceptive, and after walking another hundred meters or so with Maya, she whispered, "Don't look back; we're being followed by three people. I suspect they are after our equipment."

Lin Wu: "They can't beat us."

Maya replied, "They can lie in wait for someone who's alone."

Lin Wu said, "Strike first."

Maya explained, "It's just a guess."

Lin Wu responded, "Stalking is a death sentence." This was Lin Wu's decisiveness: whether right or wrong, he could make immediate decisions without waiting for the situation to unfold. In games as well as in reality, if someone is following you, nine out of ten times, they have malicious intent. In real life, you can't strike before the other shows their evil intentions; in the game, it's different. You don't need to guess if they're evil; even an extra glance my way, and I can kill you. Even if you don't look at me, I can kill you. In the game, PK doesn't need a reason.

Lin Wu and Maya climbed over the wall of a residential house on the roadside, ready to scavenge. Seeing their chance, three men quickly gathered by the wall. The first man, Alpha, climbed over the wall only to be met with Lin Wu's dagger, thrust directly into his heart. Alpha had no time to react; just as he turned to face Lin Wu, who was now on his left, Lin Wu's Wind Stinger moved behind him, and with a reverse thrust of his dagger into the back of Alpha's head, Alpha died instantly.

Beta, in the midst of climbing, saw Lin Wu kill Alpha and pulled out his baseball bat as he landed. A Crossbow Arrow struck his head. The game's protection mechanism: if a player is at full health, they cannot be instantly killed by another player. However, Beta's life dropped to one point in an instant; Lin Wu took advantage of the 0.5-second headshot stun to end his life.

Charlie naturally couldn't escape either. Lin Wu's double Wind Stinger meant he never saw what was happening before he perished.