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Chapter 514: Chapter 514: Riding a Donkey while Looking for a Horse
When all the zombies had been slain with none approaching from afar, everyone couldn’t help but cheer.
After retracting the man-eating flower that had nothing left to feast on, Su Jin walked with her family to the side of their vehicle to rest.
The crystal cores were extracted by the guard squad; they didn’t need to help out specifically.
Xie Hengrui had already been waiting by the Heart Talk Team’s vehicle unnoticed.
"You all worked hard, that was truly incredible."
Xie Hengrui tried to display an admiring expression as he spoke to the group, knowing that it was on the day when high-level mutated zombies appeared outside the base that the Wood Element Counterattack Squad had successfully struck up a conversation with Su Jin.
"..."
???
Who is this person?
Su Jin turned to look at everyone and noticed that they all bore expressions of not recognizing the person before them.
Meanwhile, the other two teams were busy attending to their injured or clearing the road ahead that was blocked.
Everyone, including Su Jin and her group, looked dusted with snow, but the man in front of her appeared with impeccably clean clothes and shoes, only lightly dusted with a few snowflakes. Was he really from the other two teams?
Seeing that the members of Heart Talk Team were all looking at him, Xie Hengrui excitedly began introducing himself, "Sorry for the intrusion, my name is Xie Hengrui, a level four Speed Element Ability User. I’ve really admired the Heart Talk Team for a while and just thought to come over and greet everyone."
"Thank you."
Out of politeness, Su Jin nonetheless thanked the man, hoping that he would leave soon and not delay their rest.
Seeing that Su Jin had spoken to him, Xie Hengrui felt even more proud, but just as he was about to say something more, Lu Hao interrupted him.
"We need to rest now, please leave for the time being."
With the snow falling heavily, he really didn’t want everyone to stand there in the snow listening to someone completely unknown.
Although Xie Hengrui felt somewhat embarrassed by Lu Hao’s words, on recalling that this was the renowned Lu Hao, his anger was instantly quelled by half.
"Sorry, sorry, you folks rest up."
Xie Hengrui said with a smile before heading towards his team’s vehicle.
Good, his first step had been achieved; at least the members of the Heart Talk Team now knew him, making it easier for him to promote himself in the future.
Unknown to him, Lu Hao had already recognized him from the start.
Lu Hao had known the moment he saw him, he was the person Captain Zeng had scolded for zoning out while killing zombies, so he had no intention of continuing to listen to him.
"Zoning out while killing zombies?"
Lu Guanhai asked, not caring for his own life?
"He probably didn’t participate in the fight just now, so there’s no need to pay attention to such a person," Lu Hao deduced.
"Why did he come for us, then?"
Mao Qiqi asked, puzzled.
"Mostly... to ingratiate? "
Su Jin said with a smile, feeling it was so.
Lin Xiuyuan shrugged nonchalantly and leaned back, drinking water.
Although it was a minor incident, by midday when everyone reached a dilapidated, small office building with no people or zombies around to rest, Xie Hengrui approached Yin Chengtian and Shi Jin again.
To him, these two seemed like the weakest members of the team and the easiest to talk to, being only Level Two Power Element and Level Three Wood Element respectively.
"Recruiting? Aren’t we done with that?"
Shi Jin answered Xie Hengrui’s question, who had actually asked whether the Heart Talk Team was still recruiting.
"Then how did you all join the team?"
Xie Hengrui looked at the pancake that Yin Chengtian and Shi Jin were eating, and couldn’t help but swallow his saliva; the pancake even had a filling.
"How we joined the team? Of course, it’s because our captain took a liking to us,"
Yin Chengtian answered before Shi Jin could.
He wasn’t as naive as Shi Jin. Xie Hengrui’s intention and tone were already very clear, which meant he thought since the two of them with lower abilities could join the Heart Talk Team, he, a Level Four Ability User, could surely join as well.
"We aren’t recruiting anymore,"
a cold voice came from behind Yin Chengtian.
"Captain Lu,"
Yin Chengtian hadn’t expected Lu Hao to come over.
"Well, that, I didn’t mean anything else, I just thought... you might still need a speed element ability user, and if possible, I would like to apply to join the team,"
Xie Hengrui didn’t expect Lu Hao to suddenly appear and simply stated his intention directly.
"Since you already have a team, why do you still want to join another team?"
Lu Hao’s question left Xie Hengrui speechless, why join another team? Because he felt that as long as he joined a good enough team, he could enjoy the admiration from others, just like the members of the Heart Talk Team.
"Xie Hengrui!"
Zeng Peng walked over expressionlessly; he truly hadn’t expected Xie Hengrui to have such thoughts.
Just as embarrassed as Xie Hengrui, how come Zeng Peng also came over?
"Captain Zeng, it seems your team member has been thinking about jumping ship, huh?"
Lu Hao leaned against the door and asked with a smile.
"Is that so? I didn’t know yet, Xie, you have such grand ambitions. Since our small team can’t keep you, then, let’s agree that once we return to base today, you should seek new opportunities,"
Zeng Peng said to Xie Hengrui with a sneer, their team, after all, was the high-rank battle team just below the super rank in the base. Xie Hengrui, thinking he was better because he was a Level Four Ability User, was like an opportunistic fence-sitter in their team, and he wasn’t too pleased with him.
"Captain Zeng, I didn’t mean that, I was just casually asking..."
Xie Hengrui was startled, was Zeng Peng trying to kick him out of the team? How could that be possible!
"Ah, Xie, you don’t have to be embarrassed, having great ambitions is commendable. I won’t stop you. Once we get back, I’ll just have Old Li stop by the mission center and take your name off the list. It’s settled then,"
Zeng Peng patted Xie Hengrui on the shoulder with a heartfelt tone, acting as if he wasn’t acting was his game too.
Shi Jin’s action of eating the stuffed pancake also stopped, he looked left and right, not understanding how the situation had developed into this.
"Zeng Peng, you’re being too excessive,"
Xie Hengrui saw the onlookers were growing more in number, and though it was typically just Zeng Peng not giving him face, now he was going to kick him out of the team in front of so many people, how would he ever mix in the base again?
Let alone join the Heart Talk Team, it was like he was being blocked!’
"Xie Hengrui! How dare you speak to the captain like that? Do you think you’re qualified to say that? The one wanting to betray the team is you!"
A short-haired woman stepped forward to accuse him; this Xie Hengrui was truly ungrateful, initially Captain Zeng even saved his life.
"Yes, exactly, what times are we living in? You think you’re job hunting, always looking for something better, you’re not pleasing anyone like this!"
Someone in the crowd said.
Yin Chengtian, watching Xie Hengrui leave with a look full of resentment, couldn’t help but lean in towards Lu Hao and said, "Captain Lu, did you see that look in his eyes? Do you think he might seek revenge when he gets a chance?"
