Survival Base.
Dozens of military transport vehicles rolled slowly through the gates.
Under Liu Yong's personal command, nearly three thousand soldiers had been mobilized-and they'd finally brought back a massive haul of munitions.
Sixty-some kilometers. Before the apocalypse, that was an hour's drive.
In the apocalypse, it took two full days.
They'd detoured an extra ten-plus kilometers just to avoid the zoo district.
The entire route was choked with zombies. They'd carved a bloody path through every meter of it.
Once the ammunition ran dry, the soldiers had no choice but to fight hand-to-hand. Casualties mounted fast.
But they made it to the Arsenal.
With fresh ordnance loaded up, the return trip was a steamroll.
Ma Zhongguo surveyed the convoy of weapons, barely containing his excitement. With this kind of firepower, he could sweep entire zombie hordes and harvest crystals by the truckload.
In the conference room.
"Vice Division Commander Liu, you've worked hard." Ma Zhongguo's eyes gleamed as he addressed Liu Yong.
Liu Yong shook his head.
"I'm fine. The weapons are here-let's begin rescue operations."
"You sure you don't need rest?"
"No. It's been nearly twenty days. Besides evolvers, the number of ordinary survivors out there is vanishing by the hour. Every minute we wait, more die."
"Alright. I'll leave the rescue to you, then."
"Done."
Liu Yong left the conference room without another word.
Back at the barracks, he assembled his troops immediately.
Minutes later, Troop Transport Vehicles loaded with weapons poured out of the Survival Base.
Radiating outward from the base, the sweep began in all directions.
That day, the sky thundered with artillery.
With ammunition to burn, the military finally showed what it was built for.
Everywhere they advanced, zombies fell in waves. Block by block, territory was reclaimed. Clusters of survivors emerged from the wreckage.
Some were low-level evolvers. Others were ordinary people.
Of the ordinary survivors, some had made it this far on stockpiled supplies. Others... the soldiers didn't know what to do with.
Because these people had survived by eating other people.
Everyone had heard the rumors. No one expected to see it firsthand.
When the soldiers breached those rooms and saw what was inside, even hardened veterans froze. No one knew how to process it.
Liu Yong made the call: bring them all back. Sort it out later.
If someone's companions had already died, and starvation drove them to eat the dead-that was forgivable.
But if they'd killed to eat? Those people deserved to die.
The problem was there was no way to tell which was which. Not yet. So everyone went back to base.
The massive zombie kill count also yielded a mountain of crystals, and official combat strength surged overnight.
But the crystals topped out at Tier 4. Every Tier-5 Zombie was a dirty camper-the second things looked bad, they bolted faster than rabbits.
Meanwhile, several li from the battlefield, atop a high-rise rooftop, a female zombie in a black dress watched the distant carnage with cold, unblinking eyes.
Her face showed no rot. Apart from the crimson irises, she could pass for human.
Below the building, tens of thousands of zombies packed the surrounding streets, gazing upward at the rooftop. Waiting for their queen to give the order.
"ROAR-"
The rooftop zombie unleashed a furious howl.
Below, the horde answered in unison.
Then the female zombie turned and descended the stairs.
Evening.
Yang Bin and the squad returned to the villa. Yang Bin threw together a plate of shredded potatoes and a bowl of seaweed egg drop soup.
Nothing fancy-regular vegetables couldn't survive long-term storage, so they'd only grabbed shelf-stable stuff during their supply runs.
Simple as it looked, in the apocalypse, this was a meal millions would kill for.
Seven people crowded around the table, eating happily.
"Old Sen, can elemental ability users reshape their element freely?" Yang Bin asked suddenly.
"Can't speak for others, but for me-I'm Earth-Type Ability, so I can grow spikes from the ground, raise earth walls, and condense airborne earth elements into boulders to drop on targets. That's about it for now," Zhong Yuansen said.
"Nothing else? Like forming a stone club to use as a weapon?"
"Technically yes, but it's useless. Shatters on contact."
"Got it. So you can change the shape, but without the right amplification behind it, only a few forms actually hit hard."
"Pretty much."
"Still impressive as hell."
"Why do I feel like compared to you elemental guys, my Invisibility might as well not exist? Completely useless. Doesn't even come with a single skill." Chen Hao sighed.
"How's that useless? I think Brother Hao's ability is amazing. Can't win a fight? Go invisible, dip out. Want someone dead? Vanish, walk up behind them, slit their throat. That's cold-blooded assassin shit right there." Skinny Monkey grinned.
"Our abilities fall under the special category. We haven't encountered many ability users yet, but I'd bet ours are extremely rare. Have some confidence," Yang Bin said.
"Fine. I just hope you're right about Yaoguang Realm bringing changes. Because if it's just Invisibility forever, the only real use I can think of is sneaking peeks at women in the shower."
"......"
After dinner, everyone pitched in on dishes while Yang Bin headed up to the rooftop balcony for his nightly sweep.
This was non-negotiable. He needed to check whether any zombies had wandered close enough to be a threat.
Jinghe Garden was surrounded by greenery with few residents, but zombies roamed aimlessly now. Strays drifted in regularly.
The only reason the squad slept soundly every night was because Yang Bin ran this check without fail.
One full scan-no zombies in sight. But something new caught his eye in Wang Ruikai's backyard: an iron cage.
The thing was welded from steel bars as thick as a man's forearm. And inside it, several Tier-4 Zombies paced restlessly.
"Raising them to Tier 5?" Yang Bin's eyes sharpened.
Tier 4 didn't interest him anymore. But Tier 5? He'd fight for that.
Over the past few days, Wang Ruikai had dropped by almost every evening to "chat."
Yang Bin played along each time, trading pleasantries like a tai chi match-deflect, redirect, never commit.
Hard to refuse the guy outright. Every visit came with gifts, and the gifts were always things the squad actually needed. Turning him away would be rude.
In this world, people who showed up at your door bearing supplies weren't exactly common.
But Yang Bin could feel it-Wang Ruikai's patience was wearing thin. The soft approach was about to end.
A confrontation with the Wang family was coming. Just a matter of when.
From what Wang Ruikai had let slip, the Wang family had solid connections with whoever held power at the Survival Base now. That probably meant access to serious firearms.
So-caution. If it came to blows, the squad would need to move fast and leave this place behind.
A shame, really. It was a damn good spot.