Chapter 301 - 240: Isn’t This Still Creation Out of Thin Air?

Chapter 301: Chapter 240: Isn’t This Still Creation Out of Thin Air?

On the way back, the assault vehicle wasn’t moving very fast, per Lin Fan’s request.

The atmosphere inside the vehicle was a bit subdued, or perhaps it was a sense of tranquility.

The lame joke about "wages" hadn’t kept the mood lively for long. Now, each person was lost in their own thoughts, and a silent understanding kept them all quiet.

Ye Qingzhou leaned back in his seat with his arms crossed, his fingers unconsciously tapping his elbow. With his eyes closed, he was clearly still building a fluid dynamics model in his mind;

Chu Zhaozhao was slumped against Su Qing like a wilted vegetable, and it was hard to tell if she was disappointed about not getting to show off her Divine Power or if she was simply exhausted;

Su Qing, meanwhile, quietly watched the deserted streets fly by outside the window, her gaze occasionally drifting through the iron bars to linger on the figure standing atop the turret.

As for Lin Fan, he was sitting on the roof, gripping the roll cage with one hand as he rose and fell with the vehicle’s jolting. Though his eyes seemed to be scanning the surroundings, his focus was actually far away.

He was simultaneously brainstorming ideas for his ’jet-powered great-great-great-greatsword’ while also mulling over everything concerning Ye Qingzhou.

There were limits to any one person’s abilities. Fundamentally, Lin Fan knew nothing about weapon design. Even his jet-powered greatsword was just a brute-force concept, like strapping a big enough rocket to a brick to make it fly. That was the extent of his expertise.

’A greatsword? An axe? A drill? Or maybe a spear? Or what about a giant syringe to pump that giant fat pig full of air until it bursts?’

In the end, a layman’s imagination could only go so far. To keep moving forward, he couldn’t rely on imagination alone. He needed knowledge. He needed technical skill.

Unfortunately, the knowledge in a person’s head and their understanding of the world didn’t increase along with their Life Value. Even if he had the chance to become the most powerful person on Earth, it didn’t mean he’d also have the sharpest mind...

The assault vehicle rounded a bend and merged onto the main road, where the view suddenly opened up.

Lin Fan squinted, watching as the vehicle slowly approached a familiar place—the abandoned construction site where Cheng Qi’s group had previously parked their armored car.

However, as they drew closer, even Lin Fan, from his high vantage point, couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.

The construction site was now a far cry from the dead, weed-choked, ghost town of a place it had been the last time Lin Fan was here.

The armored car was parked on the road outside, and the zombie bodies that had once littered the entrance were gone, moved to who-knows-where.

The once-empty and silent cluster of unfinished buildings, which had been nothing more than concrete skeletons, could now almost be described as bustling.

There was the CLANG of metal, as people reinforced vehicles and fences. There were loud, shouted commands that sounded like work orders being coordinated. There was even the long-missed, smoky scent of a large communal pot of food scorching slightly over a fire.

Hundreds of people bustled in and out of the site’s perimeter, all working diligently. Every one of them had a healthy Life Value, mostly hovering above eighty.

The collapsed sections of the outer wall had been cleared, and some of the gaps were now piled high with scrap building materials, forming a makeshift barrier.

The cluster of abandoned buildings, once like a graveyard, was rapidly transforming into a rudimentary survivor camp.

Several generator-powered emergency lights had been hung from the frame of the main, unfinished building. Though they weren’t on yet, their very presence gave the site a touch of civilization.

The first and second floors of the main building had been crudely enclosed with sheets of corrugated steel and wooden planks. Cardboard was laid out on the ground where dozens of people were resting. Off to the side, two people with a pen and paper were registering names, while a pair of doctors examined the crowd—one of whom was the Awakened One from Ye Qingzhou’s convoy.

These people’s Life Values were generally low, mostly around thirty or forty. They were likely the survivors from the meatpacking plant.

All sorts of vehicles were parked in an orderly fashion both inside and outside the site. People were even adjusting their positions one by one, clearing the main path to allow for a quick evacuation if necessary.

There were even a few children who were no longer cowering in corners. Instead, they were chasing each other through the crowd with sticks. Although their faces were still grimy, the fear in their eyes had lessened, replaced by a much-needed spark of youthful energy.

"They sure work fast," Lin Fan said, ducking his head to speak to the others inside the vehicle.

Cheng Qi, who was driving, broke into a satisfied grin at the sight, as if he were somehow responsible for it all. He gave the horn a couple of casual honks.

HONK HONK—!

The sharp blast of the horn cut through the din of the worksite.

The bustling crowd instinctively stopped what they were doing and looked over in unison. When they got a clear look at the man standing on the vehicle, a stir rippled through their ranks.

Lin Fan stood on the roof, taking in the sea of eyes now fixed on him.

Those gazes held awe and curiosity, but more than anything, they held the relief of seeing their backbone. For this group, composed mainly of survivors from Xingfu Li, the man standing on that vehicle was their single greatest source of security.

"Brother Lin!" Wang Yuanhua, who had been carrying an I-beam, was the first to rush over. The steel beam in his hands slammed onto the ground with a THUD, splashing muddy water everywhere. "I told them I was going with them to get you, but that Liu Bin just wouldn’t let me!"

"Bullshit! I wouldn’t let you go?" an angry voice retorted immediately.

Hearing the commotion, Liu Bin came jogging out of the main building. He tossed his pen and paper to a nearby assistant and ran, breathless, to the front of the vehicle. He gave Wang Yuanhua a shove and grumbled, "If you’d gone, who would’ve been able to move all this stuff?"