Chapter 30: Captain Zheng in Imperial Robes

Li Xiao sat in the sofa, holding the watermelon juice that Na'er had just brought him.

Hearing the praise, he smiled subtly at everyone while sipping his drink.

"And Zhan Lan—I can only say she truly lives up to being a writer. Her discourse on androids alone is something I couldn't have come up with even if I racked my brains for ages."

"Not to mention her familiarity with the plot and her incredible psychological resilience. I suspect she might be the archetype of the kind of people the Main God favors most."

"But what surprises me most is Zheng Zha. At the start, you were a genuine corporate drone, an ordinary white-collar worker. But your astonishing rate of growth is what I value most—from your initial struggles with killing and handling guns, to your final battle against the Crawler in the server room."

"In the previous arc, you could be said to have turned the tide and saved us all."

"Even I wouldn't be able to do those things."

Listening to this, Li Xiao clapped inwardly; he could only say that Zheng Zha truly lived up to the title of protagonist.

At the beginning, Zheng Zha was nothing more than a pure, ordinary corporate slave. Yet, in just two or three short hours, he dared to confront a Crawler head-on in *Resident Evil*.

Li Xiao felt a profound sense of admiration. He could only conclude that Zheng Zha was truly a child of destiny for this world. Even before his "golden finger" had come online, he was already this strong.

Zhang Jie continued earnestly.

"And you are absolutely right; a person's strength is limited after all. At our current stage, we don't yet possess the ability to face a horror movie alone. Furthermore, having experienced five horror movies, I understand even more how vital internal team cohesion is. Because besides the monsters in the movies, sometimes the most dangerous thing is the person standing next to you. Therefore, I suggest: forming a team and helping one another is fine, but if a newcomer intends to sabotage the team, kill them immediately!"

As soon as Zhang Jie spoke, someone chimed in.

"I agree!"

Li Xiao was the first to raise his hand, not for any other reason than to curb Zheng Zha's "Holy Mother" tendencies. In the original work, there were many instances where newcomers caused trouble, and the primary culprit was the captain, Zheng Zha.

Zhan Lan looked surprised. "If I remember correctly, you said we aren't allowed to kill each other, otherwise we'd be penalized 1,000 reward points."

Li Xiao smiled slightly and answered on Zhang Jie's behalf.

"There are many ways to kill someone; it doesn't always have to be with your own hands. Have you seen *Final Destination*? I can't manufacture such precise accidents, but I can certainly grab a zombie and let it 'get intimate' with them."

Amidst Zhang Jie's admiration, Zhan Lan couldn't help but shudder. She stole a timid glance at Li Xiao; he was truly a man of few words and ruthless actions.

Zhang Jie followed up on Li Xiao's point.

"Exactly. I won't actively go out of my way to harm a newcomer, but if a newcomer causes us to die together, then just as Li Xiao said, I won't mind doing it myself. So what if we lose a thousand points? As long as we survive, it's worth it."

Zheng Zha looked at them, wanting to speak but hesitating. He wanted to say that newcomers are just arriving, and in certain special horror movies, problems are bound to arise, so he hoped everyone would offer more help. However, seeing the cold expression on Zhang Jie, the agreement on Li Xiao and Zero, and even Chu Xuan, who had raised his hand early on, Zheng Zha swallowed his words.

"Since we are a team, let's choose a captain!" Zhan Lan suggested proactively.

But as soon as she finished speaking, the female writer realized that Zhang Jie, the veteran who had just been talking incessantly, had suddenly gone mute. He looked left and right, appearing quite restless.

Meanwhile, Li Xiao's posture in the soft sofa seemed to shrink invisibly, and he even pulled himself further into the cushions. The remaining half-glass of watermelon juice in his hand was impossible to finish now.

Zero, possessing self-awareness, remained silent, appearing as if he wouldn't mind who was chosen. As for Chu Xuan, he maintained an expression that practically screamed "do not approach."

Finally, Zhan Lan said uncertainly to Zheng Zha, who was closest to her, "How about you?"

"I don't..." Before Zheng Zha could finish.

"I think it works!" Zhang Jie and Li Xiao spoke up simultaneously in agreement.

Then, Chu Xuan finally spoke: "I agree as well."

Zero echoed, "Zheng Zha's strength is evident to all. I agree."

"Uh!"

Zheng Zha looked speechlessly at the five people who were all playing the part of the good guys.

Finally, after looking around, Zhan Lan pressed her forehead and laughed helplessly. "I suppose it works too. Then Zheng Zha will be the captain."

The stunned Zheng Zha suddenly felt a sense of understanding regarding the historical figure Zhao Kuangyin, who was "clothed in yellow robes" (ascended to power by his subordinates).

From the seat of honor, Zhang Jie said directly, "Alright, then it's settled happily."

Zheng Zha: *No, it is not happy at all.*

Zheng Zha felt as if these five people were pressing him down and forcing a yellow robe onto him.

***

Zhang Jie's House. Underground Training Ground.

*Bang!*

A powerful kinetic force erupted, piercing through several sonic barriers and triggering a massive explosion of sound. The noise startled everyone else, but it failed to affect the other figure lying prone.

*Bang!*

Another muffled boom followed, though this one was undoubtedly duller than the last.

Seeing that the two had finished shooting, Zhan Lan shouted into her walkie-talkie, "Alright, Captain, shooting is finished. Report the targets!"

Zheng Zha's voice came through the radio shortly after

"Zero, 4,500 meters, ten-ring bullseye."

"Gin, 3,800 meters, ten-ring bullseye."

Looking at the final results, Zhan Lan sighed as she looked at the light blue, metallic-textured long rifle in Zero's arms. "As expected of a Gauss Ion Sniper Rifle. Your reward points certainly weren't spent in vain. Logically, your sniping ability should be on par with Gin from the Black Organization. Gin... even with a T-850 robot's visual lock, he wouldn't have your striking capability."

After Gin stood up, the Barrett anti-materiel sniper rifle he had been using vanished. It was the free item Zhang Jie had materialized in his room earlier.

Zero wore a smile; he was also very satisfied with this weapon that surpassed modern technology. He even had the illusion that it had been custom-made for him.

A moment later, Zheng Zha rushed over from a distance, his eyes burning with interest as he stared at the treasure in Zero's hands.

"Look at this."

As he spoke, Zheng Zha held out both hands. In his right hand was a pile of shattered stone; in his left was a pile of powder.

"Both were marble humanoid bust targets. One was shattered, and the other was turned directly into powder."

At these words, even Zero leaned forward, reaching out to grab a handful of the powder to feel the immense kinetic energy within it.

"When exchanging it, it only stated that one shot could blow up a heavy tank. I didn't expect it to still have this much power after traveling over five thousand meters."

"Perhaps that is why, among so many future weapons, Chu Xuan insisted you exchange for the Gauss Particle Sniper Rifle."

Zhan Lan nodded as well. "It's just a pity we don't have enough silver to exchange for infinite ammunition. Now, every time you fire a shot, the whole team feels the sting. A single Gauss particle sniper round costs several reward points, and if you add other functions, it's even more expensive."