Chapter 165: The Red and Blue Camps
Several students passing by lingered on Xu Huazhang with curious eyes, their steps dragging.
Where did this rich guy come from? Could they latch onto his thigh?
Mu Lantu noticed the gazes. Since he didn’t sense any hostility, he ignored them and calculated aloud, “Not yet. We should build up more resources first. At least this much, right?” He raised one finger, meaning 10,000 gold coins.
Xu Huazhang nodded. “If we really want to earn it, it’s not that hard. I just thought of another way.”
Mu Lantu glanced at the students pretending to look out the window. “We’ll talk later.”
Those students, realizing they’d hear nothing, walked off, though their hearts still itched. That couple must have plenty of gold coins—if only they could get their hands on them… but if the school found out, it’d mean a demerit. In the end, they could only sigh inwardly.
Some still speculated: what way of earning coins were they talking about? If it didn’t require entering a dungeon, no one would want to risk those deadly places anymore.
Song Bochao, Zhang Junyang, Zhao Yuanzhou, Jia Lecheng, Qi Tianlu, Fang Menglei, and Pang Mi arrived together.
Zhang Junyang, Zhao Yuanzhou, and Fang Menglei, who had entered the same dungeon earlier, had all cleared it. Mu Lantu was curious about how they managed, but didn’t ask.
Song Bochao would never pass up potential clients in class. If they wanted to earn 15 gold coins, they’d likely sell him a dungeon walkthrough. Mu Lantu figured he’d eventually know anyway.
“Hello, Mu Lantu classmate, Xu Huazhang classmate. I’m Pang Mi, from Class 2 as well.” Pang Mi greeted politely.
“Hello,” Mu Lantu and Xu Huazhang replied.
Pang Mi said glumly, “Only Menglei and I are left as the girls in our class.”
Mu Lantu didn’t respond—it wasn’t meant for him.
Unexpectedly, no one else picked up the conversation either.
Her words fell flat, and the air grew slightly awkward.
Fang Menglei patted her arm comfortingly. “Don’t overthink it, just look ahead.”
Pang Mi sneaked a glance at Mu Lantu and Xu Huazhang, forcing a smile. “You’re right.”
Mu Lantu turned to Song Bochao. “How are you doing, Classmate Song?”
Song Bochao didn’t misunderstand his concern—he knew Mu Lantu worried more about delays to their work than his personal well-being. He smiled calmly, free of heaviness. “I’ve gotten used to it, seems okay. Just call me Song Bochao.”
Mu Lantu handed him a red envelope packet.
As soon as Song Bochao touched it, his eyes widened, glancing between Mu Lantu and Xu Huazhang.
A prop?! He’d completed every dungeon mission and cleared them, but had only gotten one prop in total!
Xu Huazhang showed no reaction.
“This…” With so many people present, Song Bochao didn’t dare say more lest they realize it was a prop. He tucked it into his game backpack. “Thanks!”
The others were curious but held back.
But Pang Mi asked directly, her eyes sparkling, voice sweet and soft: “Song Bochao, what’s that?” She even dragged out her tone like she was acting coy.
“Don’t tell me you can’t recognize a red envelope.” Song Bochao brushed it off. “Time’s almost up, let’s sit down.”
Zhang Junyang felt envious of how close Mu Lantu was with him. At the start, he and Mu Lantu had also gotten along well.
Zhao Yuanzhou quietly watched Mu Lantu. Body language didn’t lie—Mu Lantu naturally leaned toward Xu Huazhang, showing how deeply he trusted him.
If in the last dungeon he had insisted Mu Lantu ride with them, maybe he would’ve had the courage to compete with Xu Huazhang. But now, he had lost confidence. After all, whether Mu Lantu joined was never his decision to make.
Ding—ding—ding—
The gray space.
Mission: Zombie virus outbreak, the apocalypse arrives. You are in the Red Camp. Your task: escort Dr. Deng and his family of four safely to the Capital base. Time limit: 10 days. Dr. Deng’s address and official papers are in your pants pocket.
Reject mission: returned to Infinite University, no penalty, no reward.
Do not accept within 30 seconds: default accept.
Success reward: 4 credits, 400 gold coins (minimum).
Failure penalty: Death.
[Accept][Reject]
Mu Lantu’s heart tightened. The enemy camp had appeared!
He was in the Red Camp—there had to be another person or group in the Blue Camp.
If Red’s task was escorting Dr. Deng’s family, then Blue’s task was most likely to stop them.
Were the Blue Camp enemies natives or players?
Mu Lantu put on a gas mask, then accepted the mission.
His spawn point wasn’t bad. His given memory said he was hiding in a clothing store, with a supermarket next door, and Dr. Deng’s community just across the street, about one kilometers south.
No time to waste—if he arrived too late and the Blue Camp killed even one of Dr. Deng’s family, the mission would fail!
He didn’t even have time to find Xu Huazhang.
If Xu Huazhang was in the same camp, he’d naturally head to Dr. Deng’s; if in the opposite camp, he’d still go there, pretend to help, then leave before the mission deadline with a leave slip.
For now, Mu Lantu wasn’t worried about him.
The clothing store was empty. Outside, the streets were crawling with zombies, some wandering aimlessly in the sun, others gnawing corpses. No living humans in sight.
He memorized the address, summoned his usual sword from the system space, sprayed himself with a full bottle of perfume (to cover human scent, as he’d seen in zombie movies), then carefully pushed open the glass door.
He dashed quickly, silent steps, until he found a wide shopfront.
Confirming it was empty and the power cut, he pulled a modified seven-seater SUV from his space, then packed food into the trunk and last row, filling it to the brim.
He dropped a huge backpack on the passenger seat, then slid into the driver’s seat and floored it.
The SUV shot out of the shop, leaping down the steps, racing toward Dr. Deng’s home.
Zombies stirred, shrieking, chasing, but couldn’t keep up.
As the car sped down the road, a swift figure wielding a sword came into view.
Mu Lantu smiled, eyes softening, and swerved right.
The SUV screeched to a halt in front of the figure. The passenger window rolled down.
Xu Huazhang jumped in smoothly.
“Baby, you’re fast. No mask? Doesn’t matter. I just met two locals—they said the virus spreads by bites or scratches.”
“Unfortunate, but still lucky.” Mu Lantu asked, “Which camp are you in?”
He handed Xu Huazhang gray combat fatigues and boots—practical for the season and fights.
“Blue. You?” Xu Huazhang stripped and changed swiftly.
Mu Lantu’s gaze wandered over him, body stirring, and he subtly shifted position. “Red.”
“No problem.” Xu Huazhang’s thoughts matched Mu Lantu’s guess. “I’ll help you with the mission. Before submission, I’ll use a leave slip to exit.”
Mu Lantu’s heart bubbled with joy, but he said, “I can handle it alone. You don’t have to stay.”
“Be good. I’ll stay. Otherwise, I won’t be at ease.”
In a dungeon with zombies, Xu Huazhang would never leave Mu Lantu alone.
Mu Lantu knew he couldn’t dissuade him. Traveling together was safer anyway. If their roles were reversed, he’d also worry. They were too bound to each other now.
Mu Lantu drove; Xu Huazhang organized supplies, preparing two backpacks in case they were separated.
Then Mu Lantu produced more for Dr. Deng’s family—fewer stops meant more safety.
“This is the community.”
The SUV turned into Maple Leaf International.
The horde surged.
Xu Huazhang rolled down the window, firing clean shots.
Survivors upstairs heard the gunfire, leaning out in tears, shouting:
“Help us—save us—!”
“Are you police, soldiers? Save me!”
The SUV stopped at Building 8, Section B.
Mu Lantu scanned—no suspicious vehicles. Other players hadn’t arrived yet.
But he looked up. The worst possibility: Blue Camp players had spawned upstairs.
He locked the SUV. Both men got out, backs together, shooting.
Their gunfire was sharp and fast; zombies dropped with bullets in their skulls.
The few that approached were sliced cleanly by Mu Lantu’s sword.
The glass lobby door had been barred from inside with rebar.
“Anyone opening up?” Mu Lantu called through the gap.
Xu Huazhang stood guard behind him, pistol ready, sword at his waist.
A man in his thirties peeked out warily. “Who are you? Why are you here?”
Mu Lantu held up the documents to the glass, his aura sharp. “Open up. Capital leaders sent me for Dr. Deng. These are my credentials. I’ll be blunt—if you don’t open, I’ll smash the door. I’m counting down. Ten, nine, eight—”
