Chapter 145

“Why did you leave him behind!?”

The night was a raucous mess as the fights on the battlefield exacerbated further .

The cacophony from the bombardments, slashes, beastly roars and zombie wails formed a nocturnal tune of war under the starry night, overpowering Vian’s helpless sobs .

She was not blaming the others or questioning their decision . She was just trying to vent her emotions . She could not believe that Tang Ling would have died like that . Would there be a miracle? Vian did not even dare to harbor such hope as she thought about the Level 2 Crawler and the sea of zombies . Even a Purple Moon Warrior would have to go through some hurdles to save Tang Ling .

“Vian . ” Christina hugged her from behind . Although she mourned the loss of a friend, her grief was not as terrible as Vian’s .

Yu and Orston failed to find words to comfort Vian who was beaten by the news . Even if they had a thousand reasons, they could not deny the fact that Tang Ling sacrificed himself for their success . The other shameful thing was that these two proud young men could not live with the fact that they abandoned their brother-in-arms .

Andy’s eyes lost focus as he stared blankly at garage No . 19 .

Maybe if I wait a little longer, Tang Ling might appear on the roof!

He did not think about the odds for that to happen . He was just not used to the fact that Tang Ling was not in front of him . He viewed Tang Ling as an idol that he would follow for a long time, yet on this very day, he was forced to leave the person that he idolized behind .

“Let’s be reasonable . We should go back to the Hope Barrier,” said Amir after a long silence .

Vian glared at Amir angrily . “Don’t you have a conscience? What if Tang Ling appears? He must be hurt and needs us!”

“He won’t be coming . ” Amir stared at garage No . 19 where a new group of zombies swarmed over and blocked the path .

Thump!

Orston punched Amir in the face .

Amir did not dodge and merely allowed the punch to hit his nose . While his nose bled, he turned to the others with a ridiculing gaze . “The Tang Ling that I know is never a daydreamer . He might have been a mysterious person and hid a lot of secrets, so none of us truly understood him, but I know he was a person with a clear mind at all times . He knew what must be done and when he had to do it . He almost never made any mistakes . Even if he decided to sacrifice himself today, it might seem like the right choice for him to make . I wanted to be like him too . ”

He then wiped the blood from his nose before he turned around to the other side of the slope and slowly walked forward . He seemed to be muttering to himself, but it also sounded like he was talking to everyone .

“The war has started . If we continue to stay here, we will be nothing but abandoned soldiers . Tang Ling didn’t save us just so we can stand here and wait for him aimlessly . I suppose after we return to the Hope Barrier, we’ll be redeployed into the battlefield . ”

As he spoke, Amir made his way to the top of the slope . He glanced around the entire battlefield and his gaze paused on garage No . 19 for a second . His eyes revealed complicated feelings, but he quickly discarded them and jumped down from the slope .

Yu painfully shut his eyes before he grabbed Vian away from Christina’s arms strongly and followed Amir up the slope .

Then, Orston grabbed Andy and followed Yu .

“I’m not leaving . I’m waiting for Tang Ling!” Vian could not hold her grief back anymore as her tears rolled down her cheeks as though leaving the slope was robbing her of her last thread of hope .

“Yu, stop being so rude . ” Christina took Vian’s trembling hand back from Yu and hugged her friend tightly . “They are just trying to live up to Tang Ling’s sacrifice . None of them want to let his efforts go to waste . We must continue fighting and become stronger . ”

Vian did not reply and just wept softly . Orston grabbed the blank Andy who walked past them as he declared, “I hope that one day when I die, I can die an even more glorious death than Tang Ling . ”

“I-I-I will never forget him . I’ll always remember that we had a friend named Tang Ling . ” Vian ultimately followed Christina and left the slope . She then said softly, so softly that only Christina could hear her, “I’ll also remember than I liked him very much . ”

All of the Fierce Dragon Squad members then left the scene .

The little slope that was their hope of surviving became quiet, but the battle did not slow down because of their absence .

As more warriors and soldiers were sent into the battlefield, things escalated even more .

With the shadow of death looming over the battlefield, despair mixed with sorrow and numbed everyone’s emotions, so no one thought about why the endless waves of zombies would have appeared .

No one thought about what kind of huge conspiracy was brewing in the background following the abrupt appearance of the Level 6 Zombie King .

Therefore, no one suspected that behind the exacerbating battlefield, there could be a pair of invisible hands manipulating everything .

Why would it manipulate everything though?

******

The battle dirtied Hank’s clean and fair cheeks .

Back in the Hope Barrier, everyone throughout the First Reserved Camp was called in for an emergency assembly, so the entire cave was bustling .

Only Hank’s little cave that was deeper inside and faced the energy gatherer directly was unusually quiet .

With a warm smile, Andrew lowered a basin of warm water that he had fetched from the showering cave beside Hank .

He tested the temperature to ensure that it was just nice . Then, he wrung a clean towel dry and carefully wiped Hank’s face, his gaze unusually calm .

Agitated, Hank grabbed Andrew by the hand and looked at him in the eye . “You knew about it beforehand, didn’t you?”

“Knew what?” Andrew was not concerned . He studied Hank’s face and said, “Don’t move . Let me see if you’re hurt . ”

Bump!

Hank pushed the basin away, even kicking it after that as if he failed to vent his anger the first time . The innocent basin smashed against the wall, causing a clear clank and becoming deformed by the force from the kick .

Andrew did not say anything as he walked over, picked the basin up, and forcefully bent it back to its original shape .

Just as he wanted to walk out of the cave, Hank looked at Andrew with unease . “Where are you going?” He did not understand Andrew at all . Sometimes, the man felt like a total stranger, but because of his limited understanding, Hank felt the safest with him around .

Andrew’s intention to leave naturally stirred his discomfort .

“I’m not going anywhere . I’m just getting some water . We don’t have much time left before the redeployment . I suppose you wouldn’t like appearing in front of others with a dirty face, would you?” Andrew said blankly .

“Why are you…” Andrew’s words did not move Hank . Instead, Hank strode up and grabbed the man by the collar .

Andrew did not display any change of emotions as he said softly, “Why am I keeping so many secrets from you? The more you know, the more burden you have to bear . I hope that I’m the only one who bears the burden . All you have to do is grow up peacefully . ”

“So, you are treating me like an idiot?” Hank chuckled coldly .

“I knew it . You knew the group mission will eventually go south, yet you suggested that everyone in the Summit Squad accept the mission . I know you did that to remove suspicion of you, so no one will suspect that you knew the outcome beforehand . In fact, you don’t need to be that pretentious . Who the hell would suspect a guy in a reserved camp who isn’t even a Purple Moon Warrior? Oh, before I forget, you instigated us to stop the Fierce Dragon Squad from taking the mission just so you can put on a show, didn’t you? It makes your ignorance even more genuine . Am I right?” Hank was very irritated when he finally spilled the beans .

Could it get any more obvious than this?

The Summit Squad did not even finish the mission because all of them forcefully retreated under Andrew’s coincidental arrangement .

The others in the Summit Squad might not have thought twice about the so-called coincidence . In fact, they might even be grateful because if not for that, they would have been trapped in the sea of zombies as well .

No one was able to assure a full retreat with the appearance of the Zombie King and endless waves of zombies .

However, Hank knew that the coincidence was fake . How could Andrew get caught by the zombies on such a battlefield? Coincidentally, the whole squad did not bring any bacteria control potion at all . Given Andrew’s vigilance, he would never make such a low mistake .

Even though it seemed to be Emma’s responsibility to bring the bacteria control potion, Hank had a myriad of reasons to believe that even if she forgot, Andrew would have somehow compensated for her mistake .

Andrew might even be related to why Emma coincidentally forgot to bring the bacteria control potion, like how he showed no concern for the group mission and faintly emphasized other things to intentionally make her neglect the potion .

Emma was a simple woman, so she would easily fall into Andrew’s pace .

Hank himself was shocked by the thought in his mind . Could he consider Andrew a total stranger or did he know him a little too well?

He was unable to bear the pressure and dared not even think about the significance behind Andrew knowing the outcome of the mission and the situation of the battlefield beforehand .

Was it a betrayal? Who Andrew was going to betray?

The group mission had evolved into a war that put the Hope Barrier at a total disadvantage . Could it be even more obvious?

“No, you aren’t entirely correct . ” Andrew held Hank’s hands and softly removed them from his collar .

“Of course, I have to remove the suspicion of me, but it was also to conveniently do something . ” Andrew then took a seat . “To conveniently kill Tang Ling . ”

“What?” Hank looked at Andrew in confusion, not understanding why Andrew was so concerned about Tang Ling . Moreover, would killing him require that much of an effort?

Andrew grabbed a bottle of wine from the rack in the cave . He uncorked it and took a sip leisurely . He neglected Hank’s question and went on with his own explanation, “I once thought about it . For example, if we provoked the Fierce Dragon Squad, would they be even more determined to take the mission? Never underestimate the pride of a young teen like Tang Ling . Details and facts have proven that that kid is a suspicious and smart bastard . I have to give him some assurance like how anxious the Summit Squad is about taking the mission . ”

“So, you instigated everyone to oppress the Fierce Dragon Squad that night all because of Tang Ling? Is he that important?” Hank raised a bewildered brow .

Andrew fixed his collar and replied calmly, “He isn’t exactly important but he isn’t entirely insignificant either . The important thing is to remove suspicion . Killing him is just something that happens along the way . ”

“Is it because of your uncle, Lionel?” Hank thought of the grudge between Lionel and Tang Ling . In fact, the whole Summit Squad knew about it on the first day since Su Yao did make a ruckus out of it .

Hank had once been curious why would Andrew, a member of the Agnes family, allow Tang Ling to stay peacefully in the First Reserved Camp for so long? Now, judging from the situation, Andrew was preparing for a single lethal blow .

“Because of him? No! Of course not! Though I have to admit that Lionel is on my side, he is too stupid . He is reckless and disregards the consequences . I really don’t have to do anything for him . ”

“You don’t really need to ask much about Tang Ling, but his death would be good news to me, extremely good news . I’ll be rewarded and this will be enough . ” Andrew lowered the bottle of wine after taking all of two sips .

Even though he liked the taste of the liquid, he did not allow himself to be infatuated with it .

“Killing him is actually easy . ” Hank thought Andrew was being irrelevant . Why would he wait for this particular group mission and use it to his advantage?

Of course, Hank also finally understood that the real target was Tang Ling and not the entire Fierce Dragon Squad . After all, his team was the one that sabotaged the lock on the door of garage No . 19 during their retreat .

The others would not suspect anything and assume that it was a natural thing to do to the Fierce Dragon Squad for stepping on the Summit Squad’s tail .

Andrew was someone that would cover his goal perfectly .

“Yes, killing him is easy, but killing him without beating around the bush is difficult . Lionel wanted credit for it because he had a perfect excuse . Otherwise, he didn’t even dare to do it . ” Andrew propped his cheek up with one of his hands as his gaze became deep and was too profound for Hank to fathom .

“Are you afraid of Su Yao?” Hank was no longer agitated and was as calm as water now . Regardless, he would settle as long as Andrew did not keep any secret from him .

“Su Yao? Hmm, indeed, he is a madman worthy of concern, but it’s not entirely about him either . ” Andrew then stood up, glancing at Hank . “Let’s end the conversation here . If everything goes well, he should be dead by now . ”

“But what happened tonight…” Whenever Hank thought about how the conspiracy-filled battle was known beforehand by the person closest to him, Andrew, he could not feel anything but sheer cold shoot down his spine .

“Hank . ” Andrew’s tone became softer as he looked into Hank’s eyes . “Do you remember when we were young, you once said that you’d stand by my side no matter what?”

Hank’s eyes were a little misty as if the distant memories were playing before his eyes again . Of course, he remembered what he said . How could he forget about it? He knew why Andrew mentioned the promise . It was because he indirectly admitted that he had turned and betrayed Safety Sector No . 17 .

“I will never keep secrets from you . Do you understand?” Andrew’s gaze was glued to Hank who flushed . He grew up in Safety Sector No . 17 and now, he had to betray it?

“I need you . I’ve always treated you the same way . All you need to do is grow up well . ” Andrew sighed . He then walked closer to Hank and fixed his uniform . “You can forget about the promise that you made when you were young . Me saying that I need you are also nothing but my own thoughts . Just follow your heart and be happy . That’s enough for me . ”

After the string of meaningful words, Andrew was about to walk out of the cave when Hank suddenly said, “I’ll always be by your side . ”

Betrayal was shameful and difficult, but if it was for Andrew…

Andrew lowered his head with a soft smile when he heard that . “Hurry up . We still have to fight with our lives on the line later . This time, I swear on my conscience that I’ll fight seriously, but you know you can’t alter the final outcome . ”