Chapter 79

"Seize him ——"

The man didn’t even look at him, coldly issuing the order.

He reached out and roughly grabbed Tang Zi, fiercely groping her chest. Feeling the softness of her plump breasts, he finally let go and threw the half-dead Tang Zi to the guards standing beside him. Shaking his head, he said unhappily, "She’s too fat. Slim women are much more enjoyable to play with."

Tang Zi was tied up and dragged into the car.

Through the sweat-soaked strands of hair, a fierce, beast-like flame rose in her heart.

Beating, humiliation, and those final words... If she had the chance, she would use a knife to cut off that damn man’s genitals and throw them to the dogs.

Oh! No, they should be fed to the zombies.

Luo Jingpeng got out of another SUV. He glanced at Tang Zi and Chen Yao, who were being tied up by the armed personnel, and shook his head almost imperceptibly.

"You should be more gentle with them."

Luo Jingpeng walked behind the young man and said in his characteristic cold, hoarse voice, "These two are young, with good physical qualities. They are A-level goods that can be trained into fighters with a little effort. We are short of manpower now. Injuring or killing them would be a huge waste. From their accents, they are locals. They are very hungry and cold. A can of food and a cup of hot water will make them grateful and trusting. Your actions just now were too brutal, and you shouldn’t have done that..."

"There’s no need for you to teach me how to do things ——"

Before Luo Jingpeng could finish, the young man suddenly turned around and sneered, "Don’t think I don’t know what you’re thinking. The Lin family isn’t your place to give orders. My father, that old bastard, picked you up out of pity and gave you a bowl of rice to eat. I didn’t expect you to climb so high, even getting the old man to give you precious things like a first-stage enhancement potion... But what does it matter? In front of me, you’re just a dog. Don’t try to pressure me with big principles. I’m a Harvard University graduate, not someone like you, a bar scum."

Luo Jingpeng fell silent.

These accusations were, of course, not true.

The young man’s name was Lin Zhou, the second son of Lin Feihu.

Lin Zhou wasn’t always like this.

He was an outgoing and lively young man. Despite the family’s wealth, Lin Zhou didn’t rely on family power and got into Harvard entirely on his own. He studied financial management and fell in love with a beautiful girl in the United States. Perhaps due to cultural differences between the East and West, a third party appeared in their relationship. Deeply hurt, Lin Zhou chose to take a leave of absence and return to China, hoping to forget the painful memories over time. However, just then, the virus broke out, and he witnessed his youngest and most beloved brother turning into a zombie, plunging the world into madness.

Lin Zhou began to distrust everyone around him, becoming wary of everything. Even when sleeping, he kept a gun under his pillow.

Luo Jingpeng knew it wasn’t Lin Zhou’s fault.

This young man wasn’t inherently bad; he was just driven to madness by the environment.

When Luo Jingpeng was first brought to the Lin family by Lin Feihu, Lin Zhou had happily called him "brother"...

Luo Jingpeng didn’t argue.

He turned around, walked to Tang Zi and Chen Yao, who were tied up, and glanced at them expressionlessly. His gaze then shifted to the armed guards beside them, and he said seriously, "Lead with five search teams and carefully investigate the surroundings. If there are no large groups of zombies, quickly clear out enough buildings. We need to determine the location of the camp as soon as possible."

...

As night fell, the damp, cold air suppressed the bloodstains seeping from countless corners of the city, growing thicker and more persistent.

Su Hao stood on the rooftop of a building over twenty stories high, silently observing the distant camp illuminated by lights and fires through a telescope.

Xin Yan, dressed in a black tight-fitting outfit, stood behind him.

The silhouettes of the team’s guards could be seen all around the rooftop.

The streets below and nearby had been secured. Any unusual movements would be reported to the rooftop via short-range communicators, prompting a quick evacuation.

When Lin Zhou’s convoy entered the city from the east, the guards stationed near the abandoned camp had already sent the message back to the bank building.

"They have a lot of people."

Under the night sky, Xin Yan’s skin was pale, and her tight-fitting clothes made her body appear slender and well-defined. The material of this military-style female special operations uniform was fine and tight, very thin, allowing for free movement while perfectly outlining every detail and line of her body.

Su Hao nodded noncommittally, but his gaze remained fixed on the telescope.

During this time, he had already reached an agreement with Wu Guoguang —— his team would be responsible for distributing part of the immune serum and providing necessary assistance to the refugees.

The city, occupied by zombies, was never within the military’s jurisdiction.

By around the same time next year, most of the inspection stations would be canceled. The distribution of immune serum and the selection of fighters among the refugees would be handed over to the major noble and financial conglomerates.

After all, setting up inspection stations in hundreds of cities would disperse military and resources. Small armed teams of dozens could fight off small groups of zombies and evacuate by helicopter in emergencies. This situation would change as mutant creatures grew stronger. The military would develop new combat plans, with new base cities at the core, gradually expanding safe zones outward.

Su Hao had a large stock of food and urgently needed to expand his team.

Out of compassion for the survivors in the city and his good relationship with Su Hao, Wu Guoguang and his soldiers would tell the refugees who didn’t pass the selection —— in the north of the city, there is a team that can help you.

Whether in peacetime or the future, civilians always trusted the military more than the noble and financial conglomerates.

In less than a week, the bank building and the camps of Du Tianhao and Cao Rui had rescued a total of 463 survivors. Su Hao moved all these people to the "Castle" controlled by Old Song. There, new members would receive blood injections and undergo regular blood sample tests for a month.

The situation was very different from a few months ago.

Those who survived were well aware that the virus outbreak was a disaster beyond anyone’s ability to save.

They had given up their illusions and were forced to face reality. Because they received help in their most difficult times, when the team members gave them food and water, their faces showed gratitude as if they had seen God. They constantly mentioned the team leader Su Hao’s name, subconsciously regarding this young man as the most trustworthy person.

This wasn’t just happening in the city; the same drama was playing out outside —— many people who had left the city returned, and survivors wandering in the wild had to seek help from others due to the cold and lack of food... Including those sent from the city, the team’s new members had reached over 860 people.

And the number was still increasing.

Zhou Chen gave these new members, who had received blood injections and were still under observation, a nickname —— "young bees."

There were many survivors scattered throughout the city, perhaps thousands or even tens of thousands.

Su Hao had never thought of letting these people go.

He needed to gather as many "worker bees" as possible. This change in thinking, caused by the prototype serum, was something he had never considered in his plans for the future world. But regardless, the fact remained —— he had taken the prototype serum, and he was now the "queen bee."

"Yes, they do have a lot of people..."

Su Hao murmured, slowly lowering the telescope and falling into deep thought.

The "Shengfei" Group’s control over the city had exceeded the original estimates. The third team, the one in front of him, was larger and better equipped than expected.

A total of 162 heavy cargo trucks, 21 heavy trucks, 12 light pickup trucks with heavy machine guns, 9 SUVs, and 6 thirty-ton oil tankers... These vehicles of various types and functions occupied an open-air parking lot in the eastern suburbs of the city, about 200 meters from the previously attacked abandoned camp.

Clearly, when Han Fei’s advance team established the camp here, they had carefully observed the surrounding terrain, using it as a subsequent assembly area for large-scale forces.

Nearly 3,000 people arrived with this convoy.

They cleared the surrounding zombies like ants, unloading various electronic instruments and battlefield alert devices from the vehicles. They systematically set up defenses, established alert posts, and built radio communication devices. Although their actions and speed were not as fast as those of regular troops, their scale and numbers were impressive.

This was a group that had accumulated capital since before the virus outbreak.

Their resources and manpower far exceeded Su Hao’s. Years of accumulation in peacetime were not something a survivor rescued from the gaps between zombies and death could compare to. They were large and strong, with enough weapons, equipment, and resources to control the entire city.

The computer in the future world recorded the names of all the noble and financial conglomerates. "Shengfei" was just a small group listed as third-tier in size.

Su Hao gazed at the buildings in the distance where lights were visible.

There were lights, noisy voices, and the rumbling of car engines... Zombies were very sensitive to these things. Hundreds of zombies had already gathered around the building, which had a well nearby and was being used as a camp. Gunshots were heard from that direction, mixed with indistinct shouts. The camp builders clearly weren’t worried about the dangers of the night, with the lights on bright and the fires burning fiercely. Even the night wind carried the faint aroma of food.

Xin Yan’s delicate eyebrows knitted together, and her long lashes trembled with each breath. She raised the sniper rifle in her hands, looked through the scope for a few seconds, and asked doubtfully, "What are they trying to do? Making such a big commotion, aren’t they afraid of attracting a large group of zombies?"

This was also what Su Hao wanted to ask.

"Boom ——"

As if to answer everyone’s inner doubts, a deafening explosion suddenly came from the direction of the brightly lit camp —— on the dark background of the night, a nearly hundred-meter-tall building was blown apart from the bottom, making a creaking sound as it slowly tilted and crashed down, causing a violent tremor.

Immediately after, the second and third buildings fell...

The successive collapse of the buildings blocked the entire street, forming a protective barrier from three directions.

Although the dust was thick and the view was very blurry in the darkness, Su Hao could still see the four-barreled machine guns being set up on the camp’s rooftop, and several bulldozers from the cargo trucks were busy among the debris and rubble. They used various materials to build street barriers and sprayed quick-drying cement into the gaps between the collapsed buildings. Some people were doing these dangerous tasks while others were on alert. Zombies gathering from the darkness were constantly hit in the head by bullets. Although their numbers were increasing, they couldn’t climb over the high and thick barrier, only reaching out their arms, howling in