Chapter 493: Sparring Partner

Chapter 493: Chapter 493: Sparring Partner

Leo Colby was still in disbelief as Lily Hart started walking toward him.

Since they were positioned diagonally from each other, Lily had to walk past most of the group.

She ignored the stares fixed on her—some burning with passion, others filled with resentment—and walked straight up to Leo Colby.

"Let’s do this," she said openly, meeting Leo Colby’s sincere eyes.

Whenever Lily met his gaze, his eyes always revealed a steadiness that matched his personality.

But right now, they held a trace of panic and helplessness. His gaze kept shifting, as if he didn’t dare to look directly at her.

Lily always respected the rules of the game. If it said they had to stare for thirty seconds, then not a single second could be cut short.

She reached out and cupped his face with her hands. "Look at me."

"Ooooh~!" Cynthia Whittaker couldn’t stop herself from squealing, but Sue Sutton quickly clamped a hand over her mouth.

Squealing at a time like this was just adding fuel to the fire. Couldn’t she see that Frost Shaw and the others were all scowling?

With her mouth covered by Sue Sutton, Cynthia Whittaker’s wide eyes darted back and forth.

Suddenly finding his face cupped by Lily, Leo Colby was unable to move and could only obediently meet her gaze for thirty seconds.

His poor heart had just barely calmed down from the last time they’d made eye contact, and now it was once again hammering away uncontrollably. Leo Colby wished he could press a hand to his chest and tell it to slow down.

’So pathetic...’

Gradually, Leo Colby became so immersed in her gentle, calm gaze that he started to forget anyone else was there.

Thirty seconds passed in a flash. Lily released his face and quickly backed away.

She retreated quickly, but Leo Colby was left wanting more, not ready for it to end.

After the dare was over, Lily said, "We can’t soak in the hot springs for too long. Should we move on to the next area?"

Frost Shaw agreed. This game of dares was giving him a heart attack.

Except for when it was his turn, watching others play was just a miserable, bitter, and frustrating experience. He hated that he hadn’t been the one to lose!

The group moved on to the body scrubbing area, their skin perfectly softened from the long soak.

The dead skin came right off with a good scrub, making it incredibly easy.

The men went straight to the largest private scrubbing room.

The three women went to the one next door.

After changing, they each claimed a table, lay down in unison, and quietly waited for the scrub masters to arrive.

Soon, a chorus of pained cries rose from the men’s scrubbing room.

"Ow, ow, slower! You’re going to scrub all my skin off!"

"D-d-do you have to scrub there too?"

"Stop, stop, stop! Sir, please be gentle~"

The women’s room, on the other hand, was very quiet, with female attendants doing the scrubbing.

They were very attentive to feedback; if anyone felt it was too painful, they just had to say so, and the women would adjust their pressure.

When the invigorating scrub was over, Lily felt like she’d lost a few pounds. It was incredibly refreshing.

The next activity was a massage, after which Lily felt completely relaxed.

After that came karaoke. With so many people, they took over the largest private room.

Even though Lily was a terrible singer, she loved to sing. Luckily, the room had five microphones.

No need to worry about any microphone hogs this time~

Karaoke is a great way to relieve stress. Some people love to sing, and some love to listen.

The singers find it relaxing, and so do the listeners.

Fortunately, no one in the group was particularly shy. Whenever a song they liked came on, everyone wanted to belt out a line or two.

By eight o’clock, Lily was getting hungry, so she got up and headed to the buffet area.

Roman Rowe scampered after her, and the two of them returned with four massive plates of food.

It had to be said, a full day of team-building was pretty exhausting.

Soaking in the springs, getting scrubbed, massages, and karaoke all required a surprising amount of stamina and energy.

The moment the food was on the table, everyone dug in like they were starving.

After eating, they finally felt a bit revived. Lily, however, was tired and sleepy, so she decided to head back first to shower and go to bed.

The others could stay and continue the party if they wanted.

Lily returned to the lottery shop. After showering, washing, and drying her hair, she was asleep the moment her head hit the pillow.

「The next day」

Having had a wonderful night’s sleep, Lily woke up full of energy.

’Sleep really is the best way to recharge your vitality and energy,’ she thought.

’Assuming you get a good night’s sleep, that is.’

After washing up, Lily went downstairs and heated up some steamed buns for herself.

People started trickling into the RV, all of them looking haggard, with conspicuous dark circles under their eyes.

Lily laughed. "What time did you guys stay up singing? Those are some serious dark circles."

Roman Rowe held up one finger. "One o’clock?" Lily said, surprised. "That’s not too bad."

"No, it means we didn’t sleep a wink!" Roman Rowe explained, slumping into a seat beside Lily like a wandering ghost.

"Oh? In that case, you guys are seriously impressive," Lily praised sincerely.

’Ah, to be young,’ she thought. ’They can really pull all-nighters. Besides the obvious dark circles, how are they even standing? Aren’t they exhausted?’

Roman Rowe sighed and shook his head. "We were planning to leave, but we were in the middle of singing when Owen Warren suggested drinks. We started drinking, and... before we knew it, the sun was up."

"Wow," Lily remarked.

Seth and Stan Sterling also looked half-asleep, dazedly making their way over and dazedly taking a seat.

It took them a long moment to remember that, oh right, they were here for breakfast.

But they didn’t feel like moving. After a moment of internal conflict, their butts hadn’t budged an inch.

Seeing this, Lily sighed, got up, and went to a breakfast stall to buy a pile of food for them.

She placed it all on the dining table, her tone a mix of resignation and affection. "Eat up. Let’s see if you dare pull an all-nighter again."

Roman Rowe looked puzzled. "It’s weird. So weird. I remember going three days and three nights without sleep before and never feeling this tired."

"Tell me about it. And during those three days and nights, we were on high alert the whole time," Seth added.

As they talked, they both realized they had grown soft lately.

Too many good days had made them forget how they survived the hard times.

Back then, they could stake out a High-level Zombie for days and nights on end, just to get its Crystal Core, without getting any sleep.

Their minds were completely focused, never daring to relax for even a second. They noticed every little rustle of wind and stir of grass.

They never felt tired back then, so how could a single night of karaoke and drinking leave them in this state?

’Are we getting old? Or have our bodies just gotten rusty from lack of training?’

Whatever the reason, both of them felt a sense of crisis. As superpower users, this kind of weakness was absolutely unacceptable!

Just as Frost Shaw came over, he overheard their exchange and nodded in solemn agreement.

"I agree. We can’t let ourselves get soft!" Frost Shaw said seriously.

All eyes turned to him. Roman Rowe asked tentatively, "So what are you suggesting?"

’Please don’t say something crazy!’

Frost Shaw said thoughtfully, "What if we spend an hour every day looking for zombies to fight?"

Owen Warren shot him a death glare. "Frost Shaw, are you out of your mind? You don’t need to go looking for zombies. I can be your sparring partner!"

He put heavy emphasis on the words "sparring partner," cracking his knuckles with a serious, fierce look on his face.

Lily nodded. "Owen Warren as a sparring partner... that’s a good idea. Let’s not go looking for zombies. Leave them for the other survivors."

A look of disbelief appeared in Frost Shaw’s eyes as he slowly turned his gaze to Lily.

Even though he was a Ninth Rank superpower user, the gap between him and a Tenth-tier Zombie was still immense.

Besides, Owen Warren already looked down on the rest of them. If he became their sparring partner, wouldn’t that just give him a legitimate excuse to beat them up?