radicalducati Page 38
Page 38
The corresponding treasure chest and skull icons even overlap on the map!
"What's this? A boss guarding a treasure chest?"
Luo Jiajun pondered to himself, and at the same time made up his mind to take down this most lucrative "resource point" first!
"I hope it's a weak boss like the [Needle Giant], then I can easily defeat it." Luo Jiajun couldn't help but start daydreaming again.
Although the [Needle Giant] posed a huge threat to Luo Jiajun and Archina, and even killed Luo Jiajun, it was a significant threat to them.
But from today's perspective, the Needle Giant is really just a roadside monster; even two of them wouldn't be a match for the team currently led by Luo Jiajun.
Later, after calling the three "female swordsmen" on the rooftop downstairs, Luo Jiajun gathered everyone together and simply said that he was going to go south and try to finish before dark. Then he began to make arrangements, sending Mai Shiranui, Leda, 2B, and Zyra along.
Achina, Rinko Akiyama, and Dreyer stayed behind to guard the house.
Just like playing a game, Luo Jiajun's "strategic deployment" is quite sophisticated.
For example, the three who stayed behind were: Achina, who was a "front-line tank"; Rinko Akiyama, who was a "highly mobile and high-burst assassin"; and Draiel, who was a "ranged mage". The three had clear roles and together they were more than capable of defending the base.
On the side of the journey, Luo Jiajun himself is in the front row. He has two types of recovery items, plus a human punching bag, a resurrection armor, and super tankiness after transforming into a Terminator.
Secondly, the [Knight] synergy bonus that Leda has currently activated can only be maximized when she is near the "Lord". Besides, Leda is such a troublemaker, Luo Jiajun is really not at ease without her by his side.
Mai Shiranui goes without saying; fire attacks are especially effective against plant-type enemies, making her an essential character for early game exploration!
Zyra can save the group from being harassed by "minions" and wasting time during exploration, so she is also a must-have!
2B, on the other hand, is even more obedient than Leda, making Luo Jiajun completely worry-free, and it's always a good idea to have her by your side.
……broken.
Why does this feel like a game?
However, this game is far too realistic~
Surprisingly, Luo Jiajun found this whole arrangement quite interesting.
But after hearing Luo Jiajun's arrangements, Archina couldn't help but say, "The mall is protected by thorns and demonic flowers generated by Zyra. Even if we leave people to guard it, is it really necessary to leave three people?"
As she spoke, she stared intently at Luo Jiajun, her implication clearly that she hoped to travel with the team this time. (The rest of the text appears to be unrelated and possibly machine-generated gibberish.)
Luo Jiajun approached Achina and said with concern, "I already have five people here, so we don't need to be afraid of any dangers we encounter when we go out. But I don't want anything to happen to you while I'm away, so it's better to be safe than sorry.
As soon as he finished speaking, Luo Jiajun raised a hand and began to caress Achina's plump, fleshy buttocks, which were wrapped in silk and were larger than a washbasin.
His gaze then swept over the faces of Archina, Rinko Akiyama, and Draiel.
You smiled leisurely:
"Don't worry, you've done a great job staying behind. I'll definitely make it up to you when I get back!"
After these days and nights of revelry, even the relatively less open-minded Akiyama Rinko could now immediately understand the deeper meaning in Luo Jiajun's words, which made her blush and instinctively bring her legs together.
Archina and Delaire's eyes lit up. Archina, who was closest to Luo Jiajun, immediately leaned down and whispered seductively in his ear, "When you come back, I'm going to have you all to myself. You're not allowed to go play with anyone else until you've completely ruined me~"
Luo Jiajun was no longer the young Chu Nan who had been easily seduced by Archina when she first summoned her. Faced with Archina's alluring words, he grabbed her buttocks and pinched them hard, squinting at her as he said, "It's not like I haven't already thoroughly ravaged you (see Extra Chapter 2), so don't beg for mercy then~"
"Oh~ then Mommy will be waiting for baby to come back~"
After this delightful interaction, Luo Jiajun finally led his team out of the mall.
however.
As soon as they reached the roadside, the group noticed something amiss. They turned to look at a three-way intersection less than fifty meters to their left—there, a group of about ten people, each holding a burning torch, were watching Luo Jiajun and his companions from a distance.
This was the first time Luo Jiajun had seen such a large group of people since the apocalypse. He could see very clearly that the group, at least in appearance, seemed to consist of ordinary people, unlike the fully armed Tenglong Special Task Force led by Qin Feng.
So how did they manage to survive to this day when they outnumbered the Tenglong Task Force but had almost no equipment?
Are we to rely on those torches?
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"Master, shall we go take a look?"
Just as Luo Jiajun was pondering, Leida whispered a request for instructions.
Coincidentally, at that very moment, the dozen or so people at the three-way intersection in the distance started to move and began to approach the mall.
"It looks like we don't need to go looking for them; they're coming over on their own." Luo Jiajun narrowed his eyes slightly, continuing to gaze at the group of people in the distance.
Although the apocalypse has only been going on for less than half a month, this group of people seem to be very experienced.
They all carried torches, knowing how to use fire to control plants. But perhaps what truly allowed them to survive until now was their caution.
They seemed to know that most plants prefer quiet and understood the principle that caution is the best policy.
Just like now, even as they approached the mall, these people were all very careful, not daring to make any obvious noise along the way, and trying to walk in the middle of the road, keeping a good distance from the deformed plants climbing on the buildings on both sides of the street.
The way they crouched and walked quietly to avoid battle looked like a group of mice.
However, rats can bite.
As the group drew closer, Luo Jiajun clearly saw that many of them had something unusual about them.
Some people have skin that is as dry and wrinkled as tree bark;
Some people have sprouts growing in the corners of their eyes or even inside their ears;
Some people have prominent blood vessels on their faces, while the veins under the skin appear an abnormal bluish-purple.
“Master, there’s something wrong with that group of people ahead. We need to be careful.” Jiera approached Luo Jiajun and said with a serious expression, “I sensed a faint aura of our kind on them. It seems they’ve eaten something indiscriminately, and their bodies have changed as a result.”
Eating random things?
Upon hearing what Jera said, Luo Jiajun raised an eyebrow and immediately understood.
Yes, many plants are on the human diet; after all, vegetables and fruits are, in a sense, plants. In ancient times, during famines, people were so hungry that they would even eat wild grass and tree bark.
Even kindergarten children know the saying "illness enters through the mouth." If the group of people in the previous story ate mutated plants indiscriminately, it would explain why they had so many unusual symptoms.
Lean less.
The two sides finally met face to face.
A bald man with bulging blue-purple veins swept his gaze across Luo Jiajun and the women around him. Because the women with Luo Jiajun, except for Mai Shiranui, all dressed differently from ordinary people—Rita, 2B, and Zyra—the bald man's eyes became serious. Clearly, this bald man was still intelligent; he knew that those who had survived to this day and dressed so strangely were no ordinary people, and he didn't underestimate them just because they were women.
At this moment, Luo Jiajun said to the bald man in a low voice, "Friend, have you seen enough?"
The bald man immediately focused his attention on Luo Jiajun.
Seemingly realizing that Luo Jiajun was in charge, he immediately showed a friendly smile, but this smile, combined with his ferocious appearance with bulging veins, made him look vicious no matter how you looked at it.
"Hello friends, have you ever seen a woman with long red hair and very fair skin? Her name is Ma Xiaolian, she is our companion, and we are looking for her."
Find someone?
And the person he found was a woman?
Luo Jiajun squinted, looking past the bald man to behind him, and could see that the group was all male.
In a group that was all men, Luo Jiajun guessed that if there had been a woman, she probably wouldn't have had a very good life.
"Sorry, I've never seen the woman you're talking about," Luo Jiajun replied casually, glancing down at the bald man's waist. He could see a pistol tucked into the hem of his unzipped jacket.
There were even guns...
This suggests that the bald man was either a criminal or a member of the military or police before the apocalypse, or he managed to infiltrate the police station and break into the armory after the apocalypse to obtain firearms.
In either case, it shows that this bald guy is a ruthless person.
Faced with Luo Jiajun's indifferent attitude, the bald man wasn't angry at all. Instead, he looked at the shopping mall building behind Luo Jiajun again and tentatively asked:
"I wonder, have you guys explored the shopping mall ahead? Although my brothers and I came out to find someone, we're also facing a shortage of resources. I'm sure the shopping mall ahead will have a lot of things we need..."
As he spoke, the bald man stared intently at Luo Jiajun, waiting to see how Luo Jiajun would answer his question.
The entire exterior of the Zhongyue Shopping Mall is now entangled in thorns summoned by Zyra, and numerous demonic flowers—"Thorn Spitters"—are growing outside the building.
To outsiders, Zhongyue Shopping Mall is a place that looks dangerous; for ordinary people, getting close would be tantamount to courting death.
Therefore, if Luo Jiajun answers that he has already explored Zhongyue Shopping Mall, or directly states that Zhongyue Shopping Mall is his territory, it would mean that Luo Jiajun and his group are incredibly powerful, and the bald man would have achieved his purpose of testing them. Mei, Mei Youyong is busy, Lin Zaizai is not here...
Luo Jiajun was too lazy to play mind games with these people, and simply said:
"Don't come near here again, or you'll lose your life."
As soon as he finished speaking, Luo Jiajun gave Jiela a look.
Zyra understood immediately, and with a flick of her right hand, she made a lifting motion as if she were raising something. The road beside her immediately cracked open, and several bright red thorns sprouted from it.
The bald man froze instantly, and his henchmen behind him also looked terrified, all pointing the torches they were holding toward the thorns that Zyra had summoned.
"Let's go, friends, the person you're looking for isn't here," Luo Jiajun issued his final ultimatum.
The bald man didn't dare to say much, but simply said to Luo Jiajun in a low voice, "Sorry to bother you."
Then he called to his henchmen and they left the area.
Watching the group of people come and go, Luo Jiajun stood still, his brows gradually furrowing.
Just now, the thought of killing the bald man and all the others had crossed his mind.
Even though these people haven't done anything yet, just because their first impression of him wasn't good, and they probably already guessed that Zhongyue Shopping Mall was his base of operations.
That's why he felt the urge to kill them all to eliminate any potential danger.
Is this...right?
They kill, kill, kill, just because they have suspicions.
If I actually did that, would it be that my values are warped, or that in the apocalypse, we should treat all outsiders with such an inhumane attitude?
With this in mind, Luo Jiajun couldn't help but ask in a low voice to Leida and the others beside him:
"Tell me, if one day in the future these people cause us trouble, shouldn't I regret not killing them all?"
As soon as Luo Jiajun uttered these words, Leda beside him responded in a deep voice:
“If Master considers those people to be a potential threat, I can immediately chase after them and kill them all.”
Neither Zyra nor 2B found anything wrong with Leda's menacing suggestion. Neither of them were human, and the only human they cared about was Luo Jiajun. Even if humanity were to become extinct, they wouldn't be bothered by it.
But Mai Shiranui exclaimed in surprise at this moment:
"Ah? How could this be possible!"
"Luo... Master, was that really what you were thinking just now?"
"Just because those people were a potential threat, you killed them all? And I didn't even think they were a threat. They didn't seem to show any obvious malice just now, did they?"
Seeing Mai Shiranui openly questioning Luo Jiajun, Leda immediately retorted:
"Miss Shiranui, please watch your words! You should know that human nature is far more complex than you imagine. In such an apocalyptic environment, we should always assume the worst about others."
However, Mai Shiranui completely ignored Rita and just looked at Luo Jiajun with incomprehension.
Luo Jiajun turned to her and said, "I just have some doubts. Don't overthink it. If I really wanted to take action, those people would have been dead long ago, but they all left alive now, didn't they?"
"Do you have doubts...?" Mai Shiranui lowered her head and pondered.
After a brief moment of thought, he looked into Luo Jiajun's eyes and said:
"Then I think you don't need to overthink it. Even if those people cause us any trouble in the future, it's their fault, not yours. If you feel it's your fault just because you didn't kill them all today, what's the difference between that and getting yourself into a rut and making yourself miserable?"
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By using others as a mirror, one can understand one's own gains and losses.
Although Mai Shiranui is not as absolutely obedient to Luo Jiajun as Leda, Zyra, and 2B, nor does she know as well as Archina or Draiel how to please Luo Jiajun, this is not necessarily a bad thing.
As the apocalypse arrived and order collapsed, Luo Jiajun's mindset also changed with the changing environment. But what Shiranui Mai had just said gave Luo Jiajun a sudden sense of enlightenment.
And upon closer reflection, I realized that I had the idea of killing them all simply because I didn't have a good impression of them. So, in the apocalypse, when order is gone, the demons in people's hearts are freed from their shackles and begin to stir?
Especially when one still possesses power.
Luo Jiajun thought that perhaps his mindset was currently in a transitional phase, similar to: Day 1 Superman, Day 2 Homelander, Day 3 I don't eat beef.
Thinking about it this way, Mai Shiranui's words just now actually helped him stop his momentum from turning into Louis Koo.
"Xiao Wu, what you said makes sense. Thank you for clearing up my doubts." Coming back to his senses, Luo Jiajun walked up to Shiranui Mai and gently stroked her smooth, flawless cheek.
Seeing that Luo Jiajun listened to advice when necessary and wasn't stubborn, Mai Shiranui gently grasped the back of his hand and said happily, "Hehe, then please forgive this humble woman for expressing her opinion without permission~"