Chapter 87: The Scheming Opportunist
Su Chen didn't give Lin Yingying a direct answer. He simply said indifferently,"I can let you stay the night. Decide what to do in the morning."
Before Lin Yingying could respond, Zhou Xinhong gestured for her to leave.
Though she had mentally prepared for this, Lin Yingying still felt a chill in her heart.
Without outside help, could Song Linfei and Zhou Shixian really stand a chance against Gao Qiqiang?
But Lin Yingying was just an ordinary woman—there was nothing she could do. She sighed and left the meeting room with her companions.
After they had gone, Su Chen turned to the others."What do you think about what happened tonight?"
The place where Song Linfei's group was staying wasn't far from the Youlden Hotel.When A Biao and Zhao Xiong led their men to ambush Song Linfei, they were spotted by scouts Su Chen had stationed on the upper floors.
And of course, the sounds of fighting between the two groups in the quiet night were impossible to miss.
To stay ahead of any developments, Su Chen had already woken everyone up for a group discussion.
"I think we should've helped Song Linfei," He Wang, always the righteous one, couldn't help saying."He seemed like a decent guy."
"He might be a good person," Su Chen shook his head, "but going head-to-head with Gao Qiqiang is totally unnecessary."
If given the chance, Su Chen certainly wanted to eliminate Gao Qiqiang and A Biao.But charging in recklessly would be downright foolish.
Su Chen preferred to combine strategy and overwhelming force to win with minimal effort.Besides, he had no special ties to Song Linfei—it wasn't worth the risk.
"Since Su says no, then forget it. Let's just stay alert tonight and rest," He Wang said, giving up the argument.
"Why rest?" Su Chen suddenly spoke slowly.
He Wang, Sun Yuan, and the others were puzzled.
"To take down Song Linfei, Gao Qiqiang must've sent most of his elites, right?"
"Which means… this might be the perfect time for us to pay a visit to the Lushen Hotel."
A sly grin spread across Su Chen's face.
Everyone's eyes lit up.
That's right!
Though Gao Qiqiang was sneak-attacking Song Linfei, both groups had roughly equal numbers of survivors.To fully crush Song Linfei, Gao must have sent most of his people.
"He Wang, you stay and guard the hotel. Sun Yuan and I will go check out the Lushen Hotel," Su Chen said seriously."If the place is mostly empty, we'll clean him out!"
"Got it! We'll go with your plan!" He Wang agreed without hesitation.
No time to waste—who knew how long the fight between Gao and Song would last?
Su Chen, Sun Yuan, Zhou Xinhong, and a few others set off immediately.
On their last visit to the military base, aside from grabbing two rifles and some bullets, Su Chen had also picked up a few steel helmets and sets of body armor.
For safety, he wore the armor underneath his clothes and layered a white winter camouflage coat over it.
Compared to regular down jackets, these winter coats were just as warm, but much lighter—and perfect for blending into the snow.
Su Chen took out over a dozen of them and distributed them among the team.
Once fully geared, they set off into the snowy night—heading straight for the Lushen Hotel.
Sun Yuan and the others carried compound crossbows and military axes, daggers, machetes, and other weapons as they took point.
Su Chen brought up the rear.
Not because he didn't trust them—but because he didn't trust them entirely.
Even with relative loyalty, turning his back meant one stray arrow could cost him his life.
Soon enough, they reached the Lushen Hotel.
At that moment, Gao Qiqiang received word that Song Linfei and his people had been subdued.
Overjoyed, he immediately led his team away from the hotel.
Watching them leave, Su Chen smirked coldly and nodded at Sun Yuan.
Sun Yuan didn't hesitate and signaled his team forward.
Like most survivor groups, Gao Qiqiang had fortified his base in a similar fashion—blocking off all exits except the main lobby, copying Su Chen's previous designs.
As they crept toward the lobby entrance, they spotted only two or three trembling survivors huddled inside. Sun Yuan burst through the door without hesitation.
Crash!—he kicked in the glass with a loud bang.
Startled, Gao Qiqiang's few remaining men barely had time to react before—
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
The team's bolts flew. The guards dropped dead on the spot.
Sun Yuan shoved aside the debris blocking the doorway, and the rest of the group rushed in to search the hotel.
In another room, they found a few more survivors huddled around a fire—and executed them on the spot, without mercy.
"Su, looks like the place is clear," Sun Yuan reported."They've got a ton of supplies stacked up inside—still plenty left!"
"Take everything you can. Burn the rest," Su Chen ordered.
It was a shame Normadison wasn't here—Su Chen would've preferred to load all the supplies into the mobile base.After all, you can never have too much in the apocalypse.
Once they had stashed everything they could carry, Sun Yuan followed Su Chen's instructions.Using the fuel cans they brought, he doused everything with gasoline—especially the chopped furniture meant for firewood.
Su Chen lit a cigarette, took a drag, and, under his team's regretful stares, flicked the butt away.
Boom!
Flames erupted in the Lushen Hotel!
"Move!" Su Chen shouted, and they all withdrew quickly.
The building was filled with flammable materials. With the gasoline and wood, the fire quickly became an uncontrollable blaze.
The entire hotel was engulfed in flames—its glowing inferno visible across the snow-covered nightscape.
Survivors from other teams awoke to the sight, stunned and murmuring, unsure of what had happened.
When Su Chen's group attacked, a survivor had been on his way to relieve himself.Sensing something was wrong, he hid and watched.
After Su Chen's team left, he escaped before the flames could consume everything—and rushed to inform Gao Qiqiang.
"Su Chen, you bastard! You sneaky little f**ker!" Gao Qiqiang completely lost it, raging with fury.
He had never imagined that while he was raiding Song Linfei's base—Su Chen would rob him blind!