Superstars of Tomorrow

The temperature of the entire underground shelter seemed to drop suddenly, and some uncontrollably shivered. As if there was a faint hint of a murderous aura here.

Kevin Lin thought to himself that perhaps it was his body subconsciously creating a shocked and afraid reaction after watching the images on the screen. But then again, that didn’t seem right. Following that, Kevin Lin turned his gaze toward Fang Zhao.

Kevin Lin looked at the metal piece in Fang Zhao’s hand. Although the things in the underground shelter were quite old, it was still unknown what this metal piece was made of—probably some cheaply priced material used when the place had first been built. Although it could not compete with newer materials, it really wasn’t something that could be easily snapped. However, when considering Fang Zhao’s manner while doing farm work, it was not that surprising.

"Fang Zhao? What’s wrong with you?" Kevin Lin asked.

Fang Zhao retracted his gaze from the screen and threw away the few pieces of metal in his hand. He replied, "I’ll be heading out for a bit."

The way Fang Zhao spoke was different from before. When he spoke, Kevin Lin nearly jumped.

"No way!" Kevin Lin vehemently rejected. "Are you trying to court death by going out?! Didn’t you see those things outside? Even if you had a few lives, it wouldn’t be enough!"

Originally, Fang Zhao had not had any intention of going out. Even if he had wished to head out to help those outpost soldiers, there were also people here that needed protecting. Although the underground shelter had protected them from a few rounds of bombardment, what if something happened? The people here did not have much fighting strength.

Therefore, Fang Zhao’s original intention had been to stay here with Kevin Lin, Fan Lin, and the small team of scientists. If anything happened, he would be able to help. But now, having seen those things roaming outside, Fang Zhao could not suppress the raging fire burning in his heart.

Fang Zhao was certain he could handle these things, but he still had to take into consideration the others. He knew that now was not the best time to leave, that he needed to wait for the things to move further away before heading out.

Probably because it had caught the scent of humans, the thing outside the door raised its head and sniffed, then turn and came closer to the door. Kevin didn’t dare speak despite there being many things he wanted to say, as he was afraid the thing outside would hear him. He did not know how effective the soundproofing here was, so to play it safe, he could only shut up.

CRASH! CRASH!

The banging on the doors made the people inside even more nervous. Kevin Lin was sweating profusely as he kept his eyes peeled on the door. He felt as if the nerves in his entire body were trembling in sync with the sound of the beast crashing against the door. All he could now do was pray that the door was sturdy enough to withstand the battering and had not been damaged during the aerial bombardment.

The scientists were equally nervous, their bodies tensed up like stone. Luckily for them, the underground shelter had been constructed meticulously. The beast outside smashed against the door a few more times and then let out a loud, unresigned howl. Following that, it sniffed the air and, probably picking up other scents, followed the passageway and left.

The shelter was filled with the sounds of deep breathing. They knew that they would be fine for the time being.

Only now did Kevin Lin realize his legs had gone soft. He checked the camera—good, the scene had been recorded.

Kevin Lin, who at the moment was looking at the camera and lamenting, heard Fang Zhao say once again, "I am heading out to take a look."

"Are you crazy?!" Kevin Lin could not understand why Fang Zhao still wanted to go out after witnessing such a nerve-wracking scene.

Fan Lin also tried to persuade Fang Zhao. "Fang Zhao, don’t be impulsive. I know you wish to help out, but it would be best to leave those things outside to the outpost team; they are professionals."

"That’s right, leave it to the outpost team. Furthermore, restoration of the communication network seems to be in progress. The base has found out about the situation here. We just have to stay here and wait for the base to send people over. Besides, what can you do if you go outside? You don’t even have... a... gun..." Midway through his words, Kevin Lin saw Fang Zhao produce a gun from some unknown place. "Where did you get that gun from?!" Originally Kevin Lin had been leaning against the wall, but at the moment, he had leapt forward, his eyeballs bulging, unable to believe the shocking scene in front of him.

Kevin Lin bombarded Fang Zhao with questions. "Whose... whose whose gun is this? How did you bring it in? Or did you find it in the underground shelter?"

Fang Zhao did not explain. "I will head out for a bit, and"—Fang Zhao pointed at the camera—"remember to cut out the portion you just filmed."

There were indeed no longer any suspicious figures in the passageway outside. Fang Zhao listened attentively, then picked up a pole from the table before opening the door and speedily heading out after instructing Kevin Lin to hurry up and close the door and lock it. From the incident where the beast had smashed itself against the door, it could be seen that this place was still secure, so he could head out without worrying.

Kevin Lin was both angry and worried, but Fang Zhao simply had not listened to him. Fang Zhao had already gone out, and all he could do now was shut the door and observe the surveillance footage on the screen.

The passageway was murky; the majority of lights had been destroyed by the earlier bombardments. Sight was limited here, but hearing was even more acute in this darkness.

Fang Zhao listened attentively for the sound of activity and then took quick steps and ran forward in the passageway.

——

At the end of the passageway, the area that had originally been sealed off had collapsed.

A person wearing the uniform of the outpost team was half-buried under the rubble.

Walker felt that today was probably his last day alive. One of his arms was basically crippled, and both his legs were buried. When he tried to move, acute pain flashed through his body. He totally could not exert any strength. Just now, his team members had wanted to come over and help, but he had rejected them. Currently, they simply had no time to waste on him.

Only one of his arms could still move, albeit weakly. Shooting a gun required a great deal of effort, let alone aiming accurately for heads. Walker sighed softly and looked at the round black object in his hand. This was his last grenade. Even if he died, he would at least take one along with him.

He could hear the frenzied breathing in-between piercing howls coming from the passageway. This was the excitement of bloodlust.

Walker moved his fingers and flipped the switch, releasing the safety on the grenade. His finger positioned itself over the button in the middle as he looked toward the passageway. From the bright area into the darkness, he could not see anything and could only use his hearing to determined the distance to the target.

A piercing pain coursed through his arm every time it moved.

What if his throw was not accurate and it did not blow the beast to bits?

Then just wait for it to get a little closer.

Just a little closer...

After all, he was going to die anyway.

Walker counted in his heart.

He could already see the blurry outline of the monstrous beast rushing over. The shape of the beast gradually became clearer, and he could see its malevolent face and its sharp fangs.

However...

Walker pricked his ears. Why did it sound like someone was behind the beast?

Was it friend or foe?

As he thought about this, Walker heard a bang.

The monstrous beast that had been running at high speed fell to the ground and slid forward a short distance. Walker could see the bullet hole in its head. He tilted the head to see the bullet hole in the wall. That high-speed bullet had gone straight through that monstrous beast’s skull.

A strange sound of gunfire and an unfamiliar bullet hole—it was not a gun model that the outpost or the base used. Who the heck was it?

Walker, who was still clutching the grenade, had intended to rain curses before going out with a bang and dying as a martyr, but now he was dumbstruck. He widened his eyes to try and see who it was, but the other party was not in a rush to come over.

Dong—

Dong—

The sound of a metal rod knocking against the wall reverberated within the long passageway

Grrrrrr—

The sound of low growling came from above.

Walker carefully raised his head. Above, at the age of the area that had sunk in, there was another one of those beasts standing there. However, that beast had been attracted to the knocking sound and wasn’t looking at him.

Dong, Dong, Dong—

The knocking sounds became more urgent, and the beast let out a series of low growls. After that, it leapt down from the top.

Walker had started to think of as many ways to escape the predicament before his eyes, but he had only begun using his head when he heard a bang.

Blood splattered on Walker’s face, carrying with it an unfamiliar pungent smell that made one nauseous.

However, Walker simply paid no heed to that. He was staring blankly at the beast that had just landed and had not yet steadied itself before its brains had been blown out. He stiffly rotated his neck to look down the passageway.

The knocking on the wall had stopped after the shot had rung out. The sound of footsteps neared. Walker glanced over as the other person came closer, and an unexpected figure appeared in his field of vision.

"Fang... Fang Zhao!?" Walker looked as though his neck was trapped in a headlock. Worried that his eyes were playing tricks on him, he shut them tightly before violently opening them.

No mistake!

It was Fang Zhao!

How could it be Fang Zhao?

At this moment, all sorts of guesses, both positive and negative, flooded Walker’s mind.

In the few days since Fan Lin had brought Fang Zhao over, the soldiers in the outpost had all met this person who had changed the fortunes of planet Baiji. Walker had also discussed Fang Zhao with his comrades in private. He knew that this person was a gaming and composing celebrity. However, in the few days Fang Zhao had been here, many people had gained favorable impressions of Fang Zhao. He did not put on airs, and he treated others warmly. Sometimes he would even help out the outpost team and give them more opportunities to appear on the live broadcast.

This was just an upright and grounded youth! Remove his celebrity tag and Fang Zhao would not be any different. The reporter named Kevin Lin, on the other hand, was even more of a diva than Fang Zhao. This was what they had thought of Fang Zhao.

However, now, Walker felt as if this was his first time getting to know Fang Zhao.

He only met Fang Zhao’s gaze for a brief moment, yet Walker could feel a chill going down his spine.

There was not a speck of blood on Fang Zhao now, yet Walker felt as if there was a dense smell of blood permeating the surroundings.

"Walker." Fang Zhao had only been at the outpost for a short time, yet he remembered the names of the outpost team members.

"It’s... It’s me." Walker was filled with doubt. For example, where had Fang Zhao gotten the gun in his hand from? Why was his shooting so accurate? Why had he appeared here? These and many other questions filled Walker’s head, yet he did not know where to start.

Fang Zhao walked over and, with one glance, was able to roughly determine Walker’s current state. Pushing aside Walker’s fingers, Fang Zhao took the grenade from Walker’s hands and flicked the safety back on for the grenade, which could have blown at any moment.

Fang Zhao helped extract Walker from underneath the rubble and brought him back to the underground shelter.

Having gone out for a round and brought back a wounded person, the people in the shelter saw Fang Zhao in a strange light, as if it was the first time they were seeing this person.

The items in the shelter were limited, so they could only give Walker some simple treatment. For further treatment, he could only wait till the situation was resolved and he was sent to the base.

After inquiring a little about the situation above, Fang Zhao took Walker’s gun and handed it over to Kevin Lin. "I’m heading up for a look."