After Transmigrating as the Scumbag Alpha in an Otherworld Novel, I Ended Up with the Villain - Chapter 18

Zhang Tian stood with his hands on his hips, fuming. “Hey, ‘friends,’ now is not the time to be making demands. You nearly killed me, and yet you have the nerve to bring up conditions?”

Xiang Tiange curled her lip, completely indifferent to Zhang Tian’s attitude. She said nonchalantly, “You don’t have to agree.”

Ye Hai quickly stepped in to restrain Zhang Tian and asked Xiang Tiange, “What is the condition?”

Xiang Tiange spoke up: “If that gang comes back to steal our medicine, you need to help us deal with those bastards.”

Ye Hai smiled. “That goes without saying. Our original mission was to bring you back to the base. Since we can’t return for now, of course we will join forces with you to deal with outside enemies.”

Xiang Tiange nodded, supporting Wang Qingyue as they walked forward. “Deal. It’s almost dark; that gang probably won’t show up today. Follow me, I’ll take you to the place where we’re staying.”

Su Xinge turned and said to Lin Yuxuan, “Let’s go.”

Lin Yuxuan didn’t say a word. Instead, she grabbed An Le and walked straight ahead, ignoring Su Xinge entirely.

Su Xinge was stunned for a moment before hurrying to catch up. She couldn’t understand why Lin Yuxuan was being so fickle.

As the large group moved forward, Zhang Tian stamped his feet at the rear, but no one paid him any mind. Seeing everyone moving ahead and the sky growing darker, he eventually had no choice but to follow.

Ye Hai walked up beside Wang Qingyue, feeling a bit awkward. He said apologetically, “I’m truly sorry about earlier. I might have been a bit heavy-handed.”

Leaning against Xiang Tiange, Wang Qingyue shook her head and said, “It’s fine.”

Beside her, Xiang Tiange simply pulled the girl closer and let out a cold snort. “If you’re sorry, then think about how to compensate us. We didn’t actually wound any of your people.”

Zhang Tian caught up from behind at that moment and mocked, “That’s only because you guys are noobs.”

Xiang Tiange turned her head, glaring at Zhang Tian. She challenged him, “What, you want to test the power of my arrows again?”

Zhang Tian gritted his teeth and barked, “If you’ve got guts, face me man-to-man! Don’t just hide in the distance and fire cold shots.”

Seeing the situation starting to spiral, Ye Hai spoke up again: “We are all friends now, here to overcome difficulties together. There’s no need to bicker over these past trifles.”

Walking behind them, Su Xinge saw Wang Qingyue and Xiang Tiange leaning against each other and couldn’t help but smirk to herself. In the original novel, this was her favorite couple to “ship.” They were incredibly sweet, but also incredibly slow—they pushed and pulled until the very finale without actually getting together. She wondered if she could play “wingman” this time.

While Su Xinge was busy fangirling internally, she failed to notice that Lin Yuxuan’s pace in front of her was becoming increasingly somber.

They passed through a dense patch of dark green vines, and the orderly rows of buildings disappeared. Ahead lay a dark, quiet lake. There wasn’t much vegetation along the banks, but the branches that did grow were long and tough. At the end of the water, an ivory-white two-story building stood on the ground; on the surface, there were no zombies wandering around.

Seeing this, Ye Hai was puzzled. “Why does it feel like there aren’t many zombies here?”

Xiang Tiange explained, “The disaster happened during a holiday, so there weren’t many students on campus. There were only some doing experiments, some here for competitions, and training teams like ours.”

Ye Hai was still confused. “But didn’t zombies from elsewhere wander in?”

Xiang Tiange glanced at Zhang Tian and said, “Some trickled in later, but overall it’s still much safer than outside. And…”

Zhang Tian, walking ahead, interrupted, “This lake is nice. The scenery here is way better than at the base.”

Xiang Tiange frowned and couldn’t help but snap, “If you want to die sooner, feel free to get closer to the water. Don’t blame me for not warning you when the time comes.”

Just then, the slightly rippling surface of the lake surged with a sudden splash. Zhang Tian scrambled back several steps and cried out in a low voice, “Crap! No way… are you guys breeding things in there?”

Xiang Tiange rolled her eyes. “Could a human possibly breed those things?”

Wang Qingyue explained, “Those were originally ornamental fish. People used to feed them occasionally. After the disaster, many died, but the ones that survived mutated. In the beginning, some people who didn’t know the danger got too close and never came back up. Later, no one dared to go near it. Instead, the occasional zombie serves as nutrients for those fish.”

Zhang Tian shrunk his neck and moved even further from the lake. He feared these types of mutated monsters most of all.

Su Xinge, keeping a steady pace at the back, asked, “How many survivors are left here?”

The two girls in front fell silent. Eventually, Xiang Tiange spoke: “Now it’s just the two of us and our teacher. Some of our former companions turned into those creatures forever; others went out and never came back. The two of us rarely go out. The one time we did, we were targeted by another gang. Two days ago, those guys broke in and attacked us, and our teacher got hurt even worse. That’s why we thought you were with them—hence the misunderstanding.”

Ye Hai asked, “Have you two awakened any abilities, or is it just the archery?”

Xiang Tiange was confused. “What ‘awakening’? Do we need to have other abilities?”

Ye Hai explained, “Since the disaster, some people’s physical fitness has improved, and they’ve awakened certain powers. We call these people ‘Awakened.'”

Xiang Tiange shook her head. “Then neither of us has any powers. Our teacher, however, has been a bit different than before. But she was severely injured by that gang’s ambush. I suspect there are so-called ‘Awakened’ in that gang as well.”

Su Xinge nodded. “No wonder.”

No wonder in the novel, by the time the protagonist’s party arrived, only Xiang Tiange and Wang Qingyue were left. The “teacher” Xiang Tiange mentioned likely died in the conflict with those people or succumbed to her injuries. However, in the novel, when the protagonists found them, both girls had already awakened powers. This might be related to unknown events that happen later, which the novel didn’t detail.

Zhang Tian asked, “Just how many of them are there to make you so wary?”

Xiang Tiange rolled her eyes and didn’t answer.

Wang Qingyue explained, “Probably four or five. The number varies each time they show up, but there might be two ‘Awakened’ among them. They are very strong and good at throwing things; iron bars are like toys in their hands. That’s how our teacher got hurt.”

Ye Hai sighed, “Seriously? Another long-range attack?”

Zhang Tian went silent immediately.

Xiang Tiange nodded. “Both sides are better at long-range. Our teacher’s archery is beyond question, and her awakened ability is likely vision-related. But when we first encountered them, they set an ambush, which is why we got hit.”

Su Xinge spoke up: “Since both sides rely on long-range, as long as you stay indoors and don’t go out, they shouldn’t be able to do much to you, right?”

Xiang Tiange threw up her hands. “That’s the theory, but in reality… even when we hide in a spot to ambush someone, we still end up getting caught by people like you.”

Wang Qingyue added, “If our teacher can recover, things might take a turn for the better. At least we wouldn’t be at such a disadvantage in terms of numbers.”

Zhang Tian said, “Isn’t your teacher an Awakened? She’ll definitely get better soon.”

Ye Hai also offered comfort: “It’s fine. With all of us here together, as long as their Awakened don’t have extremely powerful offensive abilities, it shouldn’t be a big deal.”

Su Xinge asked, “Do you have a shooting range here?”

Su Xinge currently lacked reliable offensive methods. Since they couldn’t leave yet, she thought she might find a place to practice her marksmanship.