Mechanic endlessly amassing troops in the apocalypse

Chapter 104 Prejudice in People's Hearts is a Mountain

After a brief moment of distraction, he immediately came to his senses, a look of surprise flashing across his face. Without thinking, he ran towards Li Fei.

He ran quickly to Li Fei.

Upon seeing the newcomer, Li Fei was also utterly astonished. "You are—Rat??"

Cui Hao nodded emphatically, delighted, "Afei, now is not the time to talk. Come with me, I'll tell you later!"

Before he finished speaking, he grabbed Li Fei and rushed into the building behind them.

Before Li Fei could recover from the shock of seeing his best friend, he had already entered the building.

Upon entering, they were surprised to find that the building was filled with survivors. These people were neatly dressed, and although they looked tired, they did not appear withered and wretched from being trapped in the apocalypse for a long time. They were obviously not having a too bad time here.

Along the way, everyone greeted Cui Hao.

"Brother Hao!"

"Brother Hao!"

Cui Hao simply nodded slightly, displaying the demeanor of a leader.

Li Fei looked at the smug Cui Hao and couldn't help but chuckle. Cui Hao was his brother, practically inseparable from middle school to university. No one knew this guy better than him.

This guy has always wanted to be the boss since he was a child, but his fighting ability is exceptionally poor. He always shouts the loudest in fights, but he runs away the fastest. In the end, I always have to clean up his mess.

But he was generous and never stingy. Whenever he had a little money, he would treat others. The two of them never grew apart. Unexpectedly, he has now realized his dream of becoming the boss.

Li Fei shook his head helplessly. He had a lot of questions he wanted to ask, but now didn't seem like the right time, so he put them aside for the time being and asked in a friendly manner, "Rat, are you the boss here now?"

Cui Hao smiled smugly. "We don't have one-man rule here. Important decisions are made by several people discussing them together. As for me, I at least have a vote in the decision-making process."

"Not bad, you've made something of yourself." Li Fei smiled sincerely.

Cui Hao chuckled, scratched his head, and then suddenly lowered his voice, looking mysterious: "Afei, this isn't all. When you meet the others later, I guarantee you'll be even more surprised."

Li Fei was taken aback: "Someone you know?"

Cui Hao raised an eyebrow, keeping everyone in suspense: "Hehe, you'll find out when you go up."

As soon as he finished speaking, he turned around and walked towards the stairwell, climbing all the way to the seventh floor before stopping. Standing in front of a heavy security door, he turned back and nodded to Li Fei: "This is it, come in."

Li Fei nodded, having already considered the matter. The fact that the camp leader could gather several hundred people together in the apocalypse and ensure they weren't too badly off meant he was no reckless or cruel individual; he was indeed worth having a serious talk with.

As for subjugating the inhabitants, there's no rush. Previously, the survivors were easily won over simply because they were desperate and he could provide them with stable housing and ample food. But now these people have their own camps and their own order; being hasty will only backfire.

Cui Hao pushed open the door, and Li Fei followed closely behind.

A faint smell of disinfectant wafted towards us.

The room wasn't large, but it was exceptionally tidy. A large panoramic map of Tianhua University was nailed to the wall opposite the door, and there were many supplies piled up next to it.

A man was sitting by the window, wiping a military dagger with his head down. His hand was bandaged, and the muscles on his forearm were taut, clearly the result of years of combat training.

Hearing the door open, he glanced at it briefly before looking away and continuing what he was doing, saying with a hint of impatience, "Rat, didn't I tell you not to bring just anyone in? Have you forgotten the rules we all set?"

Cui Haoxing blurted out, "Rules my ass! Look who's here!"

He stepped aside to make way for Li Fei, his face beaming with undisguised smugness. "Yu Zi, open your eyes and look! Who is this?!"

The man paused in wiping his dagger, slowly raised his head, looked at Li Fei, and his expression froze.

—How could it be him? How is he still alive?

Li Fei's lips twitched. Good heavens, why did it have to be him of all people he knew?

Cui Hao, standing to the side, nudged Li Fei and said, "Fei, what's wrong with you? Don't you recognize him? It's Yu Zi, the brother who sleeps in the bunk above you."

—Of course I know it's my roommate who sleeps in the bunk above me, but I'm afraid he's trying to kill me.

Actually, you can't really blame Li Fei for this.

Back in his junior year of college, Lin Yu had a crush on a senior female student, but he was also very introverted, so he asked Li Fei to be his wingman.

As luck would have it, that senior student took a liking to Li Fei.

Although Li Fei and that senior student didn't end up together, Lin Yu cut off all contact with Li Fei from then on.

Of course, this matter was not made public; only the parties involved knew about it.

"Uh, Lin Yu, it's nice to see you." Li Fei greeted him awkwardly.

Lin Yu's gaze was fixed on Li Fei's face like that of a hawk. His previously nonchalant aura instantly tightened, and even the air in the room seemed to cool down.

"Li Fei?" he asked, his voice laced with scrutiny. "What are you doing here?"

Li Fei could tell from his expression that the matter from back then was still fresh in his mind. He shook his head helplessly: "It's a long story, I—"

But before he could finish speaking, Lin Yu interrupted him, "No, what I want to know is, how can you prove that you are Li Fei?"

'

He suddenly stood up, his body shrouded in murderous aura, and the throwing knife slowly floated into the air.

Li Fei's lips twitched, utterly bewildered. "Do I need to prove I am who I am?"

Lin Yu's eyes were icy cold. "All the entrances and exits of Tianhua University have been blocked by the zombie horde, and you just happened to appear during the spatial distortion. Apart from those monsters, I can't think of any other possibility."

Li Fei curled his lips, never expecting that even after the end of the world, the heartbreak from back then could still cause him such a strong prejudice.

Cui Hao's expression changed immediately. He stepped in front of Li Fei, frowning as he said, "Lin Yu, are you crazy? We've been roommates for four years, and you don't even recognize me?"

"Brother?" Lin Yu sneered, his gaze fixed on Li Fei, filled with murderous intent. "Rat, have you forgotten that monster who disguised himself as one of our classmates the other day? It almost wiped out the entire camp, have you forgotten?"

He took a step forward, his hand already on the hilt of the throwing knife: "Back when the zombie outbreak happened, we all knew perfectly well how Li Fei could possibly have survived in the teaching building under those circumstances. Moreover, now that the spatial distortion has occurred, he's appeared precisely here. Who knows what he really is?"

"You're talking nonsense!" Cui Hao snapped, his telekinetic tentacles faintly appearing around him. "He's Li Fei! I grew up with him, I'd recognize him even if he were ashes!"

"You recognize him?" Lin Yu's eyes suddenly turned cold. "Then can you guarantee that the mimicry can't imitate his appearance, his tone, his memories? Rat, don't be soft-hearted and get fooled by this thing. It'll kill the whole camp!"

Before he could finish speaking, Lin Yu suddenly flipped his wrist!

Three cold lights shot out through the wind, so fast that only afterimages remained, forming a triangular shape and aiming straight for Li Fei's three vital points: his brow, throat, and heart!

The throwing knife glowed with a ghostly blue light in the air. If it hit a vital spot, even a level 20 mutant would be paralyzed on the spot!

"Lin Yu! You're fucking insane!"

Cui Hao's eyes were bloodshot, and his mental power exploded in an instant, creating three transparent mental barriers that suddenly appeared in front of Li Fei!

clang!clang!clang!

Three crisp sounds almost overlapped, sparks exploded in mid-air, and the throwing knife was violently deflected by the telekinetic force, embedding itself mostly into the concrete wall behind it, leaving only a slightly trembling hilt.

Li Fei stood still, not even blinking. His gaze towards Lin Yu turned completely cold. It was understandable that Lin Yu harbored resentment, but when it came to actually taking action, that was a different matter entirely.

"Cui Hao, get out of the way!" Lin Yu shouted, his hand reaching for the throwing knife at his waist. "Keeping this monster around is just asking for trouble; we must get rid of him today!"

"If you want to touch him, you'll have to get past me first," Cui Hao ignored him, still standing firmly in front of Li Fei, his mental power surging, causing the tables and chairs around him to tremble slightly. "Lin Yu, let me tell you, I brought Li Fei in. If you touch him, you're going against me!"

"So what if I oppose you?" Lin Yu sneered. "I'm doing this for the survivors of the entire camp! You're willing to gamble the lives of hundreds of people for something of dubious origin?"

Just as the two were about to clash, the room door was suddenly flung open.

Wang Hu stormed in with a dozen or so shirtless, burly men, followed by several core decision-makers of the base, each with a solemn expression and weapons in their hands.

Clearly, the sounds of fighting earlier had alerted them.

"What's going on?" Wang Hu asked in a gruff voice, his gaze sweeping over Li Fei.

Lin Yu pointed at Li Fei, his voice icy: "This person appeared out of nowhere at the school gate, his origins are unknown, I think he is very likely a mimicry aberration. I just tried to test him, but Cui Hao insisted on protecting him."

The moment those words were spoken, the atmosphere in the entire room instantly tensed up.

All eyes were on Li Fei, filled with vigilance.

Having experienced the baptism of the apocalypse, none of those present were soft-hearted, especially when it came to the mimicry; everyone was as frightened as a bird startled by the mere twang of a bow.

"A mimic?" Wang Hu's eyes widened, and he instantly raised the fire axe in his hand. "Damn it, no wonder I felt something was off earlier. A person suddenly appeared out of nowhere at the school gate; it turned out to be a monster in human skin!"

"Wait!" Cui Hao, sweating profusely, hurriedly explained, "He's not a monster, he's my brother Li Fei, my childhood friend, I can vouch for him!"

"You vouch for me?" a middle-aged man wearing glasses asked. He was Old Zhou, who managed supplies at the base and was also one of the core decision-makers. "Cui Hao, it's not that we don't trust you, but have you forgotten what happened a while ago? Old Chen's younger brother was perfectly imitated by the mimic, even able to recount things from his childhood. And what happened? He bit off three people's necks in the middle of the night!"

"Exactly." Someone immediately chimed in, "Something like that just happened outside, and he's here right away. What a coincidence! What if it's some kind of monster? Our whole camp would be doomed."

Looking at the indignant crowd, Lin Yu's eyes flashed with a barely perceptible smugness. He then said in a deep voice, "Cui Hao, since you insist, let's follow our tradition and vote by raising hands. Raise your hand if you agree to immediately detain this person of unknown origin, verify his identity, and kill him on the spot if anything seems amiss."

As soon as he finished speaking, Wang Hu was the first to raise his hand, followed by Lao Zhou and several other core members.

Of the dozen or so people, only Cui Hao remained still.

Seeing this result, Lin Yu's lips curled up, and he looked at Li Fei: "Monster, now you have nowhere to escape, right?"

Wang Hu took a step forward, brandishing his fire axe, and walked towards Li Fei, his face showing some excitement: "Kid, surrender obediently, or I'll chop you up with this axe!"

People around him also gathered around Li Fei, surrounding him and waiting for a command to rush forward.

Cui Hao's face was deathly pale. He had pushed his mental power to its limit, but he knew that he couldn't possibly stop so many people by himself. He turned to look at Li Fei in a panic, about to say something, but saw that Li Fei's face showed no panic whatsoever, but rather an eerie calm.

Li Fei slowly raised his hand, patted Cui Hao's shoulder, and pulled him behind him.

"Thanks, Mouse. I'll handle the rest myself."

The words fell.

With a loud bang, the entire laboratory building shook!

The entire floor-to-ceiling window of the room was instantly shattered by the huge mechanical arm. As glass shards flew everywhere, two mechanical gorillas, each over three meters tall, crashed to the ground, their heavy bodies cracking the concrete floor.

Immediately afterwards, a dense roar of machinery came from outside the window, along with the sound of claws scratching through the air against the wall.

More than a dozen mechanical leopards rapidly climbed up the building.

At the same time, the door was kicked open, and Tang Mucheng, dressed in a neat black combat uniform and holding a long knife, walked in first, followed by Wang Meng, who was fully modified with cybernetic implants.

As soon as the two entered the room, they immediately stood beside Li Fei.

Wang Meng coldly swept his gaze across the crowd and sneered, "Heh, a bunch of greenhorns, they really aren't afraid of death, they dare to mess with anyone."

The entire room fell into a deathly silence.

The crowd, who had been so indignant just moments before, were now frozen in place, their hands holding weapons suspended in mid-air, not daring to move an inch.

Wang Hu swallowed hard and silently stepped back.

These guys are even more intimidating than level 20 zombies.

Let alone the dozen or so of them, even if that woman were here, everyone present together might not be able to win.

Lin Yu's face turned deathly pale.

He never expected that this suddenly appearing "Li Fei" would have such terrifying power.

Li Fei slowly raised his eyes, his gaze sweeping across the entire room before finally settling on Lin Yu, a smile playing on his lips.

"Unknown origin? Mimicking aberration? And they want to kill me on the spot?"

He took a step forward, and the mecha instantly covered his entire body, a buzzing mechanical sound emanating from within. "Now I'll give you a chance: kill me."

Lin Yu looked at the mecha that almost reached the ceiling and swallowed hard, not daring to make a move.

Li Fei, controlling the mecha, patted Lin Yu's face, and a sneer came from inside the mecha: "You little punk, you're useless even when I give you a chance."