“What!?” Everyone was shocked as if they had seen a ghost, staring at Tang Xiaoquan.

“Come on, are you serious! Letting someone go out alone? Are you kidding? Going out like that, there’s no chance to start the car, it’s just suicide!”

“Yeah, Xiao Tang, such a sacrifice is meaningless.”

Wang Qiang and Hu Xiaodong expressed their thoughts one after another, and it was no wonder they were so agitated. After all, what Tang Xiaoquan proposed just now was indistinguishable from murder.

Especially Li Zhong, as a newcomer to the team, he felt quite uneasy at this moment. His intuition told him that the young man planned to use him as a pawn to give the remaining team members a chance to escape.

Tang Xiaoquan saw this entirely but didn’t get angry; he had anticipated everyone’s reaction.

However, as a member of the team, he would never resort to such vile acts of “sending others to their deaths while he ascends.”

“Brothers, let me finish. I said someone should go out to start the car, yes, but it doesn’t mean there’s no protection; it’s just…” He paused, showing a hint of hesitation.

Seeing this, Xu Renjie said seriously, “Xiao Tang, at this point, survival is crucial. Don’t hold back too much; let everyone hear.”

“Alright!” He nodded indifferently, stood up, and pulled out a bottle of essential oil lotion from the cabinet next to the massage bed, setting it in front of everyone: “Look, this is the key tool I propose to use.”

“Come on! Really? This… is this shampoo? This thing is a tool?” Wang Qiang looked incredulous.

“Yes!” But Tang Xiaoquan answered quite decisively.

“Get to the point, how do you plan to use it?” Xu Renjie asked directly, no longer patient enough to waste time.

“It’s simple, just spread this stuff on the zombies downstairs and the person starting the car to cover their scent.” After speaking, Tang Xiaoquan deliberately unscrewed the lotion bottle cap and waved it in front of everyone. After smelling it, they all involuntarily crinkled their noses, showing how pungent the “lotion” smelled.

Despite this, the survivors still had doubts about Tang Xiaoquan’s protective strategy, as it concerned life and death. Zhang Zhicai asked, “Xiao Tang, have you tried this scent-masking method before?”

“No!” Tang Xiaoquan replied truthfully, though he had wanted to try many times, various reasons stopped him.

But today, given the current situation, he had to bring it up again because he couldn’t think of any other method.

“Then what do you think the success rate is?” Zhang Zhicai continued to ask.

Tang Xiaoquan shook his head slightly: “I’m not sure about the odds, but everyone just smelled the lotion. I believe that as long as we pour enough beauty and hair products on ourselves, it’ll definitely disrupt these beasts’ sense of smell.”

“What if it fails?” This time, it was Xu Renjie asking, his expression extremely serious.

Faced with such a sharp question, Tang Xiaoquan helplessly lowered his head: “If it fails, we’ll… do our best… to assist the rescue, and after that, it depends on fate!”

Do what you can, leave the rest to fate. In reality, Tang Xiaoquan didn’t have a so-called rescue plan. In other words, if the action failed, the fate of the person going out was entirely up to their own luck.

Xu Renjie silently stared at Tang Xiaoquan for a few seconds, then followed up with a question: “Okay! And if the car starts successfully, then what?”

“Old Xu, do we even need to ask? If the car starts, we’ll open the rolling shutter door and rush out.” Wang Qiang replied indifferently, but as soon as he finished speaking, he was immediately vetoed by Tang Xiaoquan:

“Qiang, we mustn’t do that; if we’re just going to rush out directly, then there wouldn’t be a need for one brother to go out alone!”

“Then what’s your plan?” Wang Qiang retorted, raising his sword-like eyebrows.

“My approach has two steps. First, use the shampoo and similar items to mask the scent so that one person can go out and start the car. Once successful, we need to make noise to attract the zombies into the store as much as possible.”

“What? You want to bring the zombies into the store?” Chaos! Utter chaos! Wang Qiang thought he had heard wrong.

What kind of joke is this! We’re already struggling to hide from the zombies, and now we’re going to bring them in.

Perhaps realizing his slip of the tongue, Tang Xiaoquan quickly added an explanation: “Don’t get me wrong, I plan to attract the zombies into the store, but only to the first floor. That way, we can block the stairway from the first to the second floor using tables and chairs, trapping the zombies downstairs.”

“But if you block the stairs, what about us? How will we get out?”

“This… I’ve checked the height from the second floor; directly jumping down definitely won’t work. However, Hu’s car was parked outside the store by Jianghuai yesterday, and the roof faces the second-floor window. As for the distance, I’ve estimated it at about 3 meters. So if we jump there, we can escape this store!”

“Oh, that’s how it is!” At this point, the survivors finally understood Tang Xiaoquan’s intent, and each instinctively nodded.

“So, who among us will drive?” Wang Qiang posed the toughest question.

Hu Xiaodong immediately raised his hand: “I’ll do it. Qiang, Xiao Tang can’t drive, I’m familiar with driving Jianghuai, so I’ll go out first!”

“No, no! Hu, your archery skills are good, it’s best for you to stay in the store and defend, so I’ll do it!” Zhang Zhicai also volunteered himself.

“What’s the point in arguing? This task suits me the best!” Wei Dazhuang also submitted his application.

Suddenly, everyone raised their hands to express their willingness, making the situation difficult to resolve.

In the end, it was Old Xu who stopped the debate and decisively said: “Enough, I’ll be the one to drive out!”

Without a doubt, after saying this, Xu Renjie stood up: “Alright! Let’s go downstairs to eat! Once we’re full, we’ll act!”

During the meal, Old Xu did not forget to make arrangements for our team: “Later on, Wei Dazhuang, Wang Qiang, Xiao Hu, Li Zhong, you’ll go downstairs to move chairs and stools to block the stairway. Remember to set up multiple defense lines! Xiao Tang, you come with me to help me with the disguise! Zhang Zhicai, you’ll watch the beasts down on the second floor! If there are any disturbances, report immediately! Besides that, during the operation, everyone must move lightly and slowly. Remember, we still can’t expose ourselves or alert the beasts!”

After the meal, the survivors immediately cleaned up the cooking utensils. Following a short rest, they followed Old Xu’s instructions and began the operation. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, feel free to vote for it on Qidian (qidian.com) using recommendation votes, monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep