Chapter 151: Striking up a Conversation

Chapter 151: Chapter 151: Striking up a Conversation

Gary Gordon’s face flushed and paled. He curled his lips reluctantly, not even looking Penelope Phelps in the eye, and brushed it off, "Got it, got it. I was wrong. I’m sorry, okay?"

After saying that, he turned around and rushed into a room, slamming the door shut with a loud BANG. The force was so great that the walls trembled.

"Dad! Are you just going to let him go?" Shannon Quinn stomped her feet in anger. "He’s scum! Brother Leo was killed by him last time, and now he pushed Penelope. Keeping him around will be a disaster sooner or later!"

Penelope slid down against the wall and sat on the floor, tears falling uncontrollably. Her voice choked with sobs, "If only Brother Leo were still here... He definitely wouldn’t let me suffer like this. He would definitely protect me."

Shannon quickly squatted down, hugged her, and comforted, "Penelope, don’t be sad. If Brother Leo is watching from heaven, he wouldn’t want you to be so heartbroken."

Owen Quinn sighed, his eyes firm. "Don’t worry. Once we return to the base, I’ll kick Gary out of the team. We absolutely cannot keep him around to harm us."

Penelope raised her head. The tears were gone from her eyes, leaving only deep resentment as she stared intently at the tightly shut door.

On the other side, Joyce Wright glanced at Sheldon Shea, then looked at Gary’s closed door. She bit her lip and shuffled over, knocking gently on the door.

Gary was holding in his anger inside the room. He had a Healing Ability, which made him highly sought after wherever he went!

Before the apocalypse, no girls wanted to talk to him because of his subpar looks. Who would have thought that in the post-apocalyptic world, the way everyone looked at him would change? Even a soft and delicate woman like Joyce would throw herself at him.

Previously, when he was treating unconscious female Superpower Users, he took the opportunity to cop plenty of feels. Hearing the knock on the door now, he guessed it must be Joyce before she even spoke.

After all, this woman had just thrown herself into his arms and acted affectionately.

He immediately pulled the door open and yanked her inside without a word. His hands weren’t well-behaved either, sliding right up Joyce’s waist as he asked, "What’s wrong?"

Joyce didn’t resist. Instead, she leaned into his embrace, her voice dripping with sweetness, "Brother Ken... I’ll follow you from now on. You can do whatever you want to me..."

"Alright!"

Gary was impatient, lowering his voice to brush her off while his hands continued to roam. He completely ignored the condemnations from his teammates outside.

"I don’t want to stay in this trashy team anyway. Once I’ve had my fun, I’ll switch teams and live just as comfortably!"

Setting aside the commotion in the room, Luna Dawson’s side was bustling with activity.

The camping stove was set up, and the SIZZLING, steaming clay pot rice dishes were neatly arranged. Next to them were a pot of salt-and-pepper seafood, teppanyaki squid, and a pot of sizzling pork offal simmering on a cassette stove. The aroma wafted far and wide, making everyone’s mouths water.

On both sides of the table were two fully loaded fruit platters, which Mrs. Dawson had pre-cut, afraid that they would only eat meat and suffer from unbalanced nutrition.

The toppings on everyone’s clay pot rice were different, but each had meat and vegetables, and they ate with immense relish.

Luna had chosen the pickled pepper beef mixed with Cantonese sausage and crispy rice. She was vigorously prying the burnt rice from the bottom of the pot with a stainless-steel spoon. With a CRUNCH, it was so crispy that crumbs flew everywhere.

The sibling duo, Nancy Sullivan and Shane Shaw, had their eyes opened on this trip, their gazes full of envy. "Luna, your family’s food is simply top-tier! We can’t even eat this well at home, yet we actually benefited from ordering your boxed meals while out here. The value for money is an absolute steal!"

They knew clearly in their hearts that just Luna leading them to fight zombies and collect Crystal Cores, plus these drinks and fruits—even Tina’s dog food—was worth far more than the few Crystal Cores they had paid. The siblings’ eyes were filled with gratitude as they looked at the group.

Nancy scooped up a large spoonful of pickled cabbage and beef rice and stuffed it into her mouth, her eyes lighting up. "By coming out with you guys, my meal standards have literally doubled! It’s a hundred times better than living frugally at home!"

Shane also nodded repeatedly, a look of shock at the deliciousness of the food before him written all over his face.

"How can it be this good! When our official combat team goes out, it’s either concentrated juice with MREs, or steamed buns with pickled vegetables. How could we ever get this kind of treatment? Luna, your family absolutely sets the highest standard for food in the entire base!"

While they were busy chowing down, Luna suddenly looked up and frowned slightly. "Someone’s coming."

Blake Blue swallowed a large mouthful of rice. "It should be Uncle Quinn from earlier. He’s just next door, not far away. I’m not familiar with him, so I didn’t say hello."

Evan Olson paused for a moment, then smiled. "Uncle Quinn? I’ve dealt with him a few times. He’s a pretty nice guy, just too easygoing. Being too easygoing in the apocalypse makes you an easy target to be manipulated."

Miles Dawson’s eyes suddenly lit up. "Oh! I remember now! His family’s kimchi is incredibly delicious. Last time we were clearing zombies in the villa district, he even gave me a jar!"

Shane was also surprised. "What a coincidence? I also greeted him the last time we were clearing zombies. Today is quite fortuitous; if we hadn’t come, they probably would have really fallen to the zombie horde today."

Aaron Palmer laughed and joked, "Goodness, this is turning into a neighborhood team-building event. It’s quite lively."

As soon as he finished speaking, the tent flap was violently thrown open. Everyone instinctively looked up, thinking it was Owen Quinn, but instead, an unfamiliar and greasy voice rang out: "You guys have quite the complete set of gear!"

Gary poked his head in. His murky little eyes quickly swept across the tent, and he was instantly captivated by the table full of delicacies. He stared intently, the sound of his swallowing almost audible.

After he had his fill of looking at the food, his gaze darted back and forth over Luna and the others. The greed in his eyes was practically overflowing, greasy and grating.

Kevin Keane, who was sitting next to Luna, sprang up almost instantly. Without waiting for Gary to take another step forward, he launched a kick right at him.

He had just seen this kind of nauseating look this morning, and running into it again now made his temper instantly flare.

"Ah!"

A miserable shriek pierced the tranquility of the yard as Gary was sent flying. He crashed heavily into the courtyard fence, and with a SPURT, he coughed up a large mouthful of blood, his body convulsing in pain.

Kevin hadn’t used his full strength, but that kick had undoubtedly broken three or four ribs.

In the post-apocalyptic world, getting injured was sometimes more terrifying than death.

Luna frowned, her face full of disgust. "What bad luck. Why are we running into nothing but idiots today?

"I didn’t expect Owen’s team to actually have this kind of trash mixed in."

Joyce had been following behind Gary. Seeing him kicked away with her own eyes, she let out a terrified scream and stumbled over to him. "Brother Ken! Brother Ken, how are you?!"

She had actually smelled the aroma of the food from the tent a long way off and was practically drooling. She and Gary had plotted: since they couldn’t stay in Owen’s team anyway, they might as well try their luck with this group.

Who would have thought that the other party would attack without a second thought, and so ruthlessly at that.

Gary struggled to raise a hand and wave it. He was still continuously coughing up blood as he said intermittently, "I... I’ll heal myself first... Hurry..."

Joyce crouched to the side, looking at his face that was as pale as paper. The gears in her mind were turning rapidly. It was over. Was her newly found backer going to die just like this?

He was a Second Order Healing Superpower User, so he should be able to survive this bit of injury, right?

If he died, what would she do in the future?