Chapter 41: 41: Reinitiating Fusion
"It doesn't matter,"
Yan Meiyu said with her arms crossed in front of her chest, speaking calmly, "What Su Han needs are helpers, not burdens, and certainly not those who are sly and crafty."
Gan Xinglei was a bit confused and asked, "How do you know who is being sly and who isn't?"
"I don't know, but I know some people shouldn't be taken."
She pointed to the elderly woman tugging at Cheng Zhenyong's side and said, "Grandma Zhao, who was the most disruptive when distributing supplies in the building, It's understandable that she didn't volunteer for the exploration today, but she didn't contribute when helping distribute supplies either, yet still wanted her share. Can we really take someone like that?"
As Yan Meiyu spoke, she pointed out a few more people, some of whom were young, all of whom wanted to reap the benefits without working and treated others as fools.
Gan Xinglei stared at his girlfriend, amazed, and said incredulously, "You, how do you remember all that?"
"Reading people and situations was the basic skill of my previous sales job."
Yan Meiyu revealed a smile and said, "I just never mentioned it before, like how you hid the money for the new game console under the console."
"Cough cough," Gan Xinglei panicked, "Wife, listen to my explanation, that money..."
Before he could finish explaining, suddenly a figure appeared at his side, "Uh, sorry, am I interrupting?"
"Guo Gang?"
The two of them looked in the direction of the voice and discovered it was indeed Guo Gang, the honest man, accompanied by Zhao Yimin.
Yan Meiyu reacted quickly and asked, "Old Guo, are you coming with us?"
"Yes,"
Without any hesitation, Guo Gang said, "Su Han contracted an Angel Envoy for me, I owe him my gratitude. Besides, I feel safer following him. The current situation is such that even going to the police station might not really be effective. It's better to be useful by his side. I've worked as a mechanic, can repair cars, and do welding, I can definitely be of use."
He was a straightforward person, not one of great talents, but always abided by the principle of repaying favors, and his instincts were sharp—following Su Han would definitely be safer.
Having witnessed Su Han take action three times—once cleaning a floor, where the Angel Envoy was powerful and decisive, surpassing other Contractors, the second time tricking He Fang and others and decisively executing them, and the last was skillfully capturing the Spider Monster during the supermarket exploration.
Each of the three actions deepened his impression: strong individual capabilities, quick adaptation to the apocalypse, decisive and fair. Such a person was more dependable than Captain Cheng.
Seeing his decisiveness, Yan Meiyu's smile grew even brighter, and her voice softened, "We are leaving in two days; you better pack some things with your wife, gather all that needs to be taken, there's still some room on the truck for stuff."
"I know, I'll go back and have Zhao Hui help with packing up, won't hold everyone back," he assured.
Guo Gang was fortunate, none of his family had turned into monsters. His wife, Zhao Hui, and daughter Guo Huihui were safe. After he became a Contractor, he also had access to supplies and they were living fairly well.
"Don't worry, Su Han should help your wife contract an Angel Envoy, she won't be a drag."
Upon hearing this, Guo Gang grinned, showing a simple and honest expression.
"Sister Yan, I'm also going with you all. Boss Su Han is strong; I feel safer with him,"
Zhao Yimin changed his form of address, but his expression wasn't sycophantic, just looking to foster a closer relationship, being only a year or two younger than Gan Xinglei and Yan Meiyu.
"Okay, just like Guo Gang, remember to pack your belongings. You have a car yourself, it will be useful when the time comes."
....
The sudden division of teams caught many off guard, but those present who chose to transfer and follow were very few.
Only those who had initially decided who they would follow or those who liked to take chances were eager to declare their stance.
Many others were considering their next steps, weighing the pros and cons, determining how to fully protect themselves before making a choice.
And some, especially those who had become Contractors, needed to find their family members now that they had some power to do so.
However, the decision by Cheng Zhenyong and Su Han stirred up new waves at the gathering point of building 7, and this time, it wasn't going to settle easily.
After delegating the recruitment to Yan Meiyu, Su Han stopped meddling, while Zhu Xiong was responsible for inventory and packing up.
It wasn't until night fell and the entire Building 7 once again sank into silence that Su Han finally left his apartment.
He arrived at the door on the first floor where Zhang Fu was still on guard duty, but his partner was not the young Zhao anymore; it was someone else.
"Brother Zhang, you're still guarding the main door. Where's Xiao Zhao?"
After greeting him, Zhang Fu shook his head slightly, "That kid, he found a... nevermind, let's not talk about it."
He hesitated, seemingly wanting to mention a girlfriend but thought better of it. Was he foolish enough to think exchanging supplies for a girlfriend was believable?
Whether or not his actions were justified wasn't for him to say, so he deliberately changed the subject. "Su Han, couldn't you sleep?"
Su Han shook his head and said, "Open the gate for me, please. I need to go out for a bit, I have something to do."
Zhang Fu's expression froze. If it had been anyone else, he wouldn't have allowed them to go out, no matter what the issue. Going out at night risked attracting monsters.
Though they had cleared some corpses during the day, those were only near the parking area. No one really knew how many monsters there were in the entire compound.
But since it was Su Han who was asking, it was a different matter.
Coming back to reality, he said, "Okay, but if you need help, just say so. Don't be shy."
Su Han was strong and judicious, better at keeping his composure than most young people Zhang had seen, so naturally, he didn't inquire further about his business.
While talking, he opened the big iron gate. Su Han thanked him, took out a Lamp Tree crystal, and then briskly walked out of Building 7.
The gate behind him clacked shut firmly and automatically locked.
The light from the Lamp Tree illuminated the surrounding area. The dim yellow light made everything around seem distorted, lacking the clarity of an incandescent light but giving off a deep, eerie feel that was quite frightening.
Carrying a crowbar, Su Han led the Four-armed Corpse, following this morning's memory directly to the parking area.
The fog surrounded them from afar, making their footsteps distinct in the night.
Perhaps because they had cleared the area during the day, they encountered no monster attacks along the way, and soon he and the Four-armed Corpse reached the parking lot.
Car after car was obscured in the fog, barely visible as dark shadows. Su Han glanced around and noted fewer cars than during the day, obviously some survivors had driven away.
"One, two, three… twenty cars, should be enough,"
Su Han counted the cars. Although a few were missing, he thought it shouldn't significantly impact their situation, and commanded, "Four-armed Corpse, begin Fusion."
The Four-armed Corpse, following the order, walked towards the nearest car, placed its hands on the vehicle, and its flesh transformed into tendrils that continuously adhered to and fused with the car's metal frame.
LV2 generic metal 0.1%, 0.5%, 1%...
The progression of the Fusion gradually began to rise. Su Han quietly watched on the side as the Four-armed Corpse speedily devoured the car's metal structure. Compared to the previous two fusions, this time the Four-armed Corpse's Fusion speed was noticeably faster.
But at the same time, because it was upgrading from LV2 to LV3, it required significantly more metal, and the entire hood of the car had fused, but the total Fusion Degree had only reached 8%.
Su Han was patient. While on guard with the crowbar, he attentively sensed the changes in the Four-armed Corpse.
As time passed, roughly fifteen minutes later, the metal framework of a car had almost completely vanished, leaving only parts like seats and wheels, which piled up like trash.
"40% Fusion progress, this pace is acceptable. Continue," he observed.
Fusing the metal from a car, about 1800 pounds, in just over ten minutes was tolerable.
Soon, the Four-armed Corpse moved from one car to another, leaving non-metallic parts on the ground, including batteries and flowing gasoline, which gradually produced an unpleasant smell.
Normally, this gasoline would also be an important resource, best collected before fusing to maximize efficiency, but Su Han didn't have the energy for that.
By the time they reached the fourth car, the Fusion Degree was finally full.
[LV3 generic metal Fusion complete, "Metal Control·Junior" skill acquired]