Chapter 55: On What Grounds?
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The two of them came to a spacious terrace and leaned against the railing, letting the winter wind blow in their faces. Zhang Hongtao looked up at the sky full of stars and said in amazement, “There are quite a number of stars tonight.”

Shen Chen smiled and said, “The stars are always there. Whether there’s more or less depends on the person who’s looking.”

“You’ve got a point,” Zhang Hongtao laughed. “You know about the Big Four international accounting firms, right?” he asked.

“Uh-huh,” Shen Chen responded, glancing again at Zhang Hongtao. The “Big Four” was the nickname used to collectively refer to the four largest professional services networks in the world. Each of the Big Four accounting firms offered audit, assurance, taxation, management consulting, corporate finance, and legal and actuarial services to their clients. A significant majority of the audits of public companies, as well as many audits of private companies, were conducted by these four networks.

He hadn’t expected Zhang Hongtao to be such a formidable figure. He and Zhao Ze were indeed as different as night and day.

Shen Chen smiled inwardly. This was perhaps why Zhao Ze was dead and Zhang Hongtao was alive.

Zhang Hongtao was unaware of his thoughts. He said with a smile, “I worked in one of the Big Four accounting firms for the past ten years. It may not sound like much, but I was at least considered a department head. Each time I came home from work at an unearthly hour, it never occurred to me to look up at the stars. Now, when I’m finally able to do so, the people and things around me are no longer the same…”

There was a long and deep sigh. Both of them remained silent for a long time.

Suddenly, Shen Chen broke the silence by asking outright, “Zhang Hongtao, you’re a smart guy. Say whatever’s on your mind!”

Zhang Hongtao was slightly taken aback, but he looked Shen Chen in the eye and chuckled. “You’re really direct, huh! Let me get to the point, then,” he said, somewhat embarrassed. He said earnestly, “You’re a strong man. You could definitely survive the apocalypse, maybe even thrive in it! Hence, I want to join your team.”

Clenching his fists, Shen Chen laughed and said bemusedly, “Aren’t you already part of the team?”

“No!” Zhang Hongtao shook his head. “I wanna be in your inner circle, just like Guo Yuan, Ye Xiaoyu, Pan Di, and Zhao Zhen.”

Shen Chen took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled, an intriguing smile spreading across his face. “You? On what grounds?”

“What makes him think he could?” Shen Chen thought.

Zhang Hongtao was amazed at the level of confidence oozing from Shen Chen. It seemed to suggest that Shen Chen was capable of overseeing and managing everything. Almost as if he were omniscient and omnipotent!

Zhang Hongtao felt a sudden sense of pressure and couldn’t help but break into a cold sweat. “I have managerial experience. I could help you streamline your operations.” By right, he ought to feel really confident in his abilities, but, for some reason, it didn’t come out the way he expected… In fact, he even sounded a bit desperate.

Shen Chen broke into a smile and patted Zhang Hongtao on the shoulder. He was not only not affronted by the gesture, but also pleasantly surprised by it.

“Do your job well, and don’t think too much about it. When the time comes, I will consider you!”

Shen Chen strolled back into the living room, leaving Zhang Hongtao on the terrace with a trace of hope.

Zhang Hongtao was a smart man. He knew how tough Shen Chen was. The only thing that kept him going in the apocalypse was his son. His only wish was for his son to make it to adulthood, which was why he had to survive with Duoduo, and Shen Chen was the key to their survival! They had to stick with Shen Chen until he gained his approval! He had to!

…

In the blink of an eye, they had all spent yet another week in the hotel. By this time, they had already cleared the first to tenth floors, which meant that floors one to ten were safe zones.

As the four of them would leave together for their training practice, they no longer had to be secretive when extracting the evolution fluid. Their priority was effortlessly killing zombies and cracking open their heads to retrieve the evolution fluid, absorbing the fluid at night, then participating in strength training and combat practice.

Shen Chen, whose powers had gone up nine notches and was almost at Second Tier, was especially ready to finally practice some of the combat skills he had obtained in his past life. These combat skills could help develop a neo-human’s strength. For people with powers of a higher tier, it might even improve their strength by leaps and bounds.

If one only possessed a high tier without corresponding combat skills, it would be akin to a person having strength but not knowing how to fight. What good would it be having the strength but not the skills? The purpose of the combat skills was to elevate the neo-human’s combat levels.

In his past life, these combat skills were obtained from the military. Of course, some of the stronger neo-humans would come up with their own set of combat skills, and those were highly sought after. A great set of combat skills could be worth thousands of vials of evolution fluid.

What Shen Chen had obtained his past life were merely military-devised combat skills for the public. But, while they might be common, they were more than adequate for Shen Chen at the moment!

Shen Chen was currently doing warm-up exercises on the forty square meter terrace while Guo Yuan and the others watched with worried expressions on their faces.

This particular set of combat skills focused on footwork coupled with movements with bursts of energy, so as to achieve greater speed and explosive force.

All of a sudden, Shen Chen launched himself into the air. His feet bounced off the ground, and he leapt forward and landed on the railing.

He swiftly moved across the railing on the sixteenth floor! The three of them watched, their hearts in their throats. They were on the sixteenth level, so the wind was strong. They were worried that Shen Chen might lose his footing and end up falling off the building.

But it was apparent that Shen Chen didn’t share the same concerns. The wind didn’t bother him a single bit. He not only managed to stand firmly with both feet on the ground, but was also able to jump around nimbly like a monkey. In fact, he managed to execute a few somersaults in midair before landing in front of the three of them!

Zhao Zhen, Pan Di, and Guo Yuan clapped enthusiastically and congratulated Shen Chen. “Wow! That was amazing! It was like a scene out of a Kungfu film!”

Shen Chen shook his head. “That’s nothing!” he thought to himself. If one had enough practice, they might even be able to “split” themselves into several “shadows” so as to confuse their enemies. To reach that level would be truly amazing, but one would need more than basic combat skills in order to reach that level.

He was busy guiding them as they practiced, when Ye Xiaoyu suddenly appeared. Waving to him, she called out, “Brother Shen Chen!”

Shen Chen turned around and saw an expression of worry flash across Ye Xiaoyu’s face. “I’ll be back soon,” Shen Chen said to Guo Yuan and the rest.

Guo Yuan winked at Shen Chen, receiving a glare in return. Shen Chen walked over to Ye Xiaoyu and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Ye Xiaoyu looked around to make sure no one was within earshot before whispering, “Brother Shen Chen, we don’t have much food left, and portions have been greatly reduced for the past few days. If we don’t replenish our food supply soon, I’m afraid…”