Invincible through Touching Corpses

Chapter 359: The Invitation Controversy

As Lin Xinghai and the others arrived at the plaza, their communication wristwatches vibrated again, notifying them that the military transport planes would arrive in 10 minutes.

By now, the plaza was bustling with candidates. Seeing that they were about to head to the assessment location, many were making last-ditch attempts to recruit more teammates.

Just then, a young man approached Lin Xinghai’s group.

"Everyone, the Fierce Tiger Brigade already has 53 members. Our team has five A Level Genetic Assessors, and we’re inviting you to join. What do you say?" the young man said with a smile.

"Not interested," Lin Xinghai refused flatly.

"My friend, that’s not very rational. Your squad only has four people. I’m afraid you’ll have a very hard time if you run into a zombie horde of over 20."

"And Dong’an City was a third-tier city before the apocalypse. There are at least five to eight million zombies in there. The chances of encountering a massive horde are high. One slip-up, and you could be eliminated early," the young man advised, his tone grave and earnest.

"Not interested. I have no desire to get caught up in your internal politics," Lin Xinghai said with a faintly mocking smile.

’The formation of such squads was purely an unofficial activity; the academy didn’t recognize them.’

’In other words, there was no guarantee of any benefits. If we joined, we’d most likely be used as cannon fodder and sent to lead the charge.’

’Moreover, on the third day, when the fight for the Energy Balls began, team members could turn on each other at any moment.’

’Rather than having to be constantly on guard, it was better not to join in the first place. Besides, Lin Xinghai didn’t feel he needed to rely on anyone else’s power.’

Hearing Lin Xinghai’s words, the young man knew he was dealing with someone who understood the score. He didn’t press the matter and quickly left.

However, the first man had barely left when another, a lanky youth representing the Celestial Eagle Brigade, came over with an invitation.

After Lin Xinghai rejected him, the youth surprisingly didn’t leave. Instead, he looked Liu Miaomiao up and down before speaking. "My lady, our Captain Qiu Liang is an A Level Genetic Assessor. Not only is his Rare Superpower incredible, but he also possesses a Special Physique. He’s definitely a strong contender for a Special Class Student spot."

"If a beauty like you is willing to come over, you’ll definitely get special treatment. Maybe if the captain’s in a good mood, he’ll give you an Energy Ball, and you can easily become a First Class Student."

’In his eyes, the offer was extremely generous. This four-person squad didn’t look like much, so poaching her shouldn’t be a problem.’

’Then, if he could get on Qiu Liang’s good side, maybe he could become a First Class Student too.’

However, just as he was feeling confident, he saw Liu Miaomiao’s face turn cold. "I don’t need it. Go away," she said.

The lanky youth hadn’t expected such a blunt refusal. He was stunned for a moment and was about to say more.

But seeing the guy trying to poach one of his own, Lin Xinghai couldn’t hold back any longer. "Scram!" he roared.

"You... I’m with the Celestial Eagle Brigade! You’re asking for—" The lanky youth flew into a rage, but before he could finish, another voice cut in.

"He told you to scram, didn’t you hear? Who the hell do you think you are? Qiu Liang? If you manage to get into the academy, count yourself lucky. But if you don’t, believe me when I say I have ways to make sure you never walk out of East Sea Base," Little Fatty yelled, pointing at the youth.

He was doing this to get on the good side of both Lin Xinghai and Liu Miaomiao.

Before, he had thought people like Qiu Liang were impressive, but now? Forget Lin Xinghai—even Liu Miaomiao, whose Superpower had undergone a second awakening, could put them in their place. So he wasn’t the least bit intimidated.

Being cursed at to his face, the man was furious—it would be a lie to say otherwise. However, he quickly recognized Little Fatty, the guy with a guaranteed spot in the academy.

He also remembered that the guy’s family was someone he absolutely could not afford to offend.

Unsure if he could even get into East Sea Academy, he swallowed his anger. With a cold snort, he turned and stalked away.

The onlookers had seen the whole thing, and they all recognized Little Fatty. After that commotion, Lin Xinghai’s group was finally left in peace. No one else was foolish enough to try inviting them.

At this point, however, Little Fatty took the initiative. "Brother Lin, why don’t we form our own team? Aren’t we a little outnumbered and isolated like this?"

"It’s fine. More people would just slow us down," Lin Xinghai said.

"Then... what if we run into a really big zombie horde? Like, over 50... no, 100 of them. What do we do then?" Little Fatty asked, watching Lin Xinghai’s expression.

"How many Ordinary Zombies can you handle?" Lin Xinghai asked instead of answering.

An Ordinary Zombie’s physical strength was only equivalent to someone who had just broken their first Genetic Lock and become one of the Optimized. Little Fatty’s Genetic Optimization Level, however, had reached 99%. In terms of physical strength, he completely crushed them.

"Uh... taking on thirty or forty shouldn’t be a problem, I think!" Little Fatty said, giving a conservative estimate.

’In reality, he felt he could probably take on 100. After all, aside from his vastly superior physical strength, he also had his Superpower.’

’But since he wasn’t sure why Lin Xinghai was asking, he could only give the most conservative answer possible.’

"Then that’s settled. If we run into a horde of 100, you take out the Ordinary Zombies, Liu Miaomiao and Jin Tong handle the Intermediate Zombies, and leave the remaining High Level Zombies to me. Problem solved, right?" Lin Xinghai said.

Little Fatty was dumbfounded. It sounded so simple, but he also felt the statement was so full of holes he didn’t even know where to start picking it apart.

Jin Tong, meanwhile, just turned his head away. ’Lin Xinghai is getting more and more unreliable,’ he thought, growing increasingly worried for his own future. ’He doesn’t even think before he boasts anymore.’

Ten minutes passed in the blink of an eye. Soon, the whirring of propellers could be heard in the distance.

Lin Xinghai looked into the distance. Ten large military transport planes were rapidly approaching before slowly descending over the crowd.

Once the military transports had landed, Zuo Wenyao, who had appeared in the plaza at some point, leaped lightly onto the roof of one of the aircraft.

He looked down at the densely packed candidates, his gaze sweeping over them once before he slowly began to speak. His voice wasn’t loud, yet it miraculously carried to every person in the plaza.

"Each military transport has a capacity of 500. You may now board. The planes will take off once full. Everyone else will wait half an hour for the second wave. Each wave will transport 5,000 people."

"Oh, and one more thing. The assessment begins the moment you arrive in Dong’an City. It will conclude in three days, at 12:00 PM sharp." After saying his piece, Zuo Wenyao leaped off the transport.

His words didn’t seem like much at first, but soon, the implication began to dawn on the crowd.

One wave could only transport 5,000 people, but there were over 30,000 candidates present. Even rounding down, that meant six separate waves.

And with a half-hour interval between each wave, that meant the start time for the first wave and the sixth wave would be a full three hours apart.

But their end time was identical.

"Holy shit, this is definitely intentional," Little Fatty cursed as the realization hit him. His face twisted with conflict. "Damn it, this means the assessment has already started. Brother Lin, should we fight for a spot on the first wave?"