Chapter 87

"We need researchers in this field," said the voice on the screen.

Chen Yanlin forced himself to speak with a sufficiently respectful tone: "Just a lieutenant, without any combat personnel assigned, and the unit will belong to the New Equipment Development Department. What do you think?"

Xu Renjie's expression on the screen was serious.

It was clear that Chen Yanlin was being very firm on this matter.

The suppression of Lu Zhengxiong's promotion order had clearly infuriated him. As a general, he still had to endure the suppression from the army commander in handling such affairs... Although his expression was calm, Xu Renjie could still sense the atmosphere, like the smell of sulfur before a volcano erupts.

Controlling power through suppression is necessary, but one must pay attention to the elasticity of opposing forces.

At the right time, a little concession can be made, but not without limits.

"Then, follow your initial suggestion and promote him to second lieutenant," said Xu Renjie, bluntly compressing the rank Chen Yanlin had just proposed by two levels. "The order will be issued directly to Li Daoyuan, with no one else involved. I will notify the personnel department. Don't worry! That kind of thing won't happen again. It was just an accident..."

The call ended quickly, and Chen Yanlin sat in his chair, his eyes burning with anger, which gradually faded.

Xu Renjie needed to maintain absolute power and authority, and it wasn't worth angering him over trivial matters.

Anyway, his goal was just that young man named Su Hao.

This obsession was hard for others to understand, but Chen Yanlin had his own reasons.

He was very familiar with Wang Qianian—this dirty, disgusting, and even evil old fat man was very unpopular. However, in recognizing and using people, he had a sharp eye that no one could match.

Xiao Lin's jealousy and anger had accidentally made Su Hao a researcher.

Although Wang Qianian punished the personnel involved in the Science Academy's Archives Bureau, he did not revoke the personnel order regarding Su Hao. Moreover, in just a few months, Su Hao had been promoted twice, from a "D3" researcher to a "D1."

The fat old man had never been wrong in this regard. If Su Hao hadn't been identified as an exceptionally talented elite, how could he have risen so quickly in such a short time?

This was the basis of Chen Yanlin's confidence.

If Su Hao could prove himself to be a capable and excellent talent, Chen Yanlin would not hesitate to give him a higher rank, even at the cost of a falling out with Xu Renjie.

Because he also needed confidants and trusted subordinates.

Having a reliable team was essential for any challenge.

The camp on the east side of the city had been occupied by zombies.

Explosions, roars, screams, and gunfire... these sounds, usually associated with "death," tightly attracted the sensitive hearing of the zombies. After the slaughter and chaos, the camp was left with over a hundred corpses. No zombie could resist the temptation of fresh flesh. They became anxious and agitated, crowding outside the barricades, howling and clawing. This chaotic and frenzied behavior could not change the situation—mindless zombies could only judge the location of food or targets based on their hearing and sense of smell.

They would choose the nearest path.

Like tourists in a zoo using fruit to tease bears, the latter would only open their mouths wide behind the fence, never thinking of slapping the keeper to death and walking out of the iron gate. Then, they would bite the tourists, with human flesh as the main course and fruit as dessert.

The dark red blood zombies were clearly a bit smarter than ordinary zombies.

They couldn't climb over the barricades formed by collapsed buildings, but they searched for new entrances along the sides.

This blind and aimless behavior continued for nearly 24 hours, and a few blood zombies finally found a loose gap on the south side of the barricade. These hungry and persistent creatures used their shoulders to ram, their hands to push, and their teeth to bite... the crack, which was originally just wide enough for one person to squeeze through, quickly widened, and a flood of zombies poured in, completely overwhelming the entire camp.

There were no more living people there, only corpses.

There was still some time before the Spring Festival, but Su Hao's team had already started preparing the various supplies needed for the New Year.

Old Song led a group to catch many field mice in the wild—these small animals, which hibernated in their nests and relied on stored food to survive the winter, were very fat. Once skinned, they revealed white, tender meat. After removing the internal organs, cutting off the heads and feet, and cleaning them, people roasted the mouse meat over charcoal, sprinkling salt, pepper, and various seasonings. Roasted until half-dry, they were then pounded with a small hammer to make the meat loose, dry, and flavorful.

There were many fish caught from the river. Some were scaled, gutted, and dried, while others were mixed with ground fish meat and flour to make fish balls or stuffed into casings to make sausages.

On New Year's Day, the team members in the "Castle" and various camps all enjoyed rice cakes and dumplings—there were many radishes and cabbages in the cellar, mixed with chopped luncheon meat and sausages, as well as pickled vegetables and vermicelli... although there was no fresh pork, the dumplings were still quite tasty, and everyone ate a lot. With wine, candy, and cigarettes... everyone was very happy, their faces beaming with joy and satisfaction.

This joyful atmosphere influenced every surrenderer.

They discovered that these people were actually not much different from themselves.

There was no discrimination in this team, and people were very friendly to each other.

Even leaders were easy to get along with. The elderly, children, and women were not bullied because of their weak physique; they received slightly less food than men but enough to be full.

As for rape or forcing women, such things had never happened, at least not so far.

The surrenderers were detained in a building opposite the bank. The supervision was not strict, quite relaxed. The guards were friendly and often talked and joked with the captives.

The uniforms and badges were the markers to distinguish the core and peripheral members of "Shengfei." Except for Luo Jingpeng and Lin Zhou, all core members in the camp had been killed. This meant a loss of control over the peripheral members. Besides, these people were originally refugees from various cities, lured by food and threatened with force by the "Shengfei" group. There was no real loyalty.

"I think it's good here. At least, we don't have to worry about food. These people don't beat or kick us like the instructors in the Northern Base, and they don't throw people to the zombies for some mistake."

"They speak and act with rules. This makes me feel safe. They won't let me die for no reason because of someone's dislike."

"Hey! See their guns? They're all standard issue. I bet these people are connected to the military. It's much better to follow them than the old 'Shengfei.' At least, I know their leader is called Su Hao, and I've spoken to him a few times. What's the boss of 'Shengfei' called? I think it's Lin or something... The old people were arrogant and condescending; I didn't like them..."

Zhou Hao conducted blood tests on all the prisoners every week. According to the data in the records, the number of black particles in everyone's body had increased to varying degrees. Especially those who were most familiar with the guards, the proportion of black particles in their blood had already exceeded the standard "4" and was about to reach standard "5."

A pot was placed on the stove, and the thick soup inside was boiling. The air was filled with the strong aroma of meat and various seasonings. Through the rising steam, one could see slices of ham, translucent scallops, and other ingredients like radishes, tofu skin, and vermicelli in the soup.

Su Hao and Wu Guoguang sat by the hot pot, occasionally raising their glasses to take a big sip of spicy liquor. On the side table were an open can of luncheon meat, a dish of pickled cabbage, and a dish of fried peanuts.

This was in the bank building. On New Year's Day, Su Hao had invited Wu Guoguang to have a meal, but it was too busy at the time: logistics, injections of immune agents for survivors, inventory... Wu Guoguang had no time. If not for handling many things yesterday and having a bit more time, he wouldn't be sitting here now.

The meat dishes like ham and scallops were collected from stores in the city.

The vegetables were grown by the team members.

It wasn't difficult to prepare a hot pot for two people in the bank building.

"Your actions caused quite a stir recently."

Wu Guoguang picked up a crisp peanut and put it in his mouth, chewing while refilling his and Su Hao's glasses with "Wuliangye." He said seriously, "Those groups are very powerful. You shouldn't provoke them."

Su Hao said calmly, "I don't want to make unnecessary enemies. But if something needs to be done, it must be done."

Wu Guoguang looked up, his expression complex through the steam.

Su Hao had told him about Tang Zi.

The girl was very pitiful—her boyfriend was killed by the "Shengfei" group, and she was raped. To escape at that time, if she hadn't been helped by Su Hao and been caught by those chasing her, the outcome... just thinking about it made him feel a chilling fear.

The world had already fallen into chaos.

Wu Guoguang picked up his glass, gazed at the clear, fragrant liquid inside, and drank it in one gulp. Instantly, a strong spiciness flowed down his throat, igniting a fierce flame in his stomach.

During his time at the monitoring station, Wu Guoguang had seen too many tragic things.

Outside the security command post, there was a man who had gone mad. He wandered the streets every day, killing a few zombies like a hunter, and then ate the rotten flesh from the corpses. A soldier, feeling sorry for him, gave him a few compressed biscuits, but the man ignored them, focusing on eating the foul, paste-like meat.

There was a beautiful woman who cooked for a small team in the western part of the city. She slept with the men in exchange for food and water. Two weeks ago, the team was surrounded by zombies, and the woman managed to escape. She wandered the streets, almost driven mad by hunger. When the soldiers went out to search, they found the woman had been caught by other men. Her legs had been cut off, and the wounds were sprinkled with Yunnan Baiyao to stop the bleeding. In a pot nearby, the water was boiling, and inside were chopped pieces of leg meat and a foot with the nails pulled out.

During training at the Northern Base, the instructors repeatedly warned, "Do not get involved in any affairs between civilians and the wealthy groups. Besides giving them immune injections, you can distribute a small amount of food. But remember—no matter what you see, do not interfere or ask questions. Our only enemy is those damned mutated creatures."

Wu Guoguang felt his nerves had become numb.

He admired Su Hao for saving Tang Zi.

Even envied him a bit.

"Your tactical plan is good, and the personnel and weapon allocation is reasonable. Those guys need a good lesson. They have big ambitions and want to enslave everyone. If you don't take them out, they will turn against you."

Exhaling a long breath of alcohol, Wu Guoguang picked up a large slice of ham from the pot, eating it while mumbling, "Your people are very strong. There's nothing better than direct combat for training. Capturing over a thousand prisoners at once is rare. But, they are just civilians, not even militia. They consume a lot of food. Hmm... what do you plan to do? Keep them here?"

Su Hao smiled and said, "I plan to build a farm outside the city. I've already sent people to scout the location, and we'll start planting when the weather warms up."

Wu Guoguang nodded, "Speaking of farming, there are many people in the northern suburbs. They built a castle. It's said that the leader is an old man surnamed Song."

"I know," Su Hao said calmly. "They control many gas stations in the city, and I've been trading food for fuel with them. They are fair and haven't cheated me."

Changing the topic, Su Hao said, "There's something I need to ask you."

Wu Guoguang stopped his chopsticks mid-air, looking at him intently.

Su Hao clapped his hands, and the door opened. Five people entered—Tao Yuan and Li Xiaomei, with their baby, and Lu Tao and Lu Nuer.

"I know you are selecting people. These are the warriors I recommend to you."

Wu Guoguang sat up straight, put down his chopsticks, and rubbed his rough, stubbly chin, frowning instinctively.

Among the four, only Tao Yuan was acceptable.

Lu Tao, though a man and young, was very thin and tall, with no muscles or strength.

Lu Nuer was beautiful, but Wu Guoguang filtered out this superficial beauty—pretty girls had no killing power against zombies. The monsters only cared if the meat was fresh, and fat women and fat might be more attractive to them.

As for Li Xiaomei... she was a typical housewife, weak, timid, and almost silent.

Moreover, she was holding a baby.

Wu Guoguang looked at Su Hao, his eyes full of doubt.

Su Hao smiled and raised his glass, "They are the best warriors and will not disappoint you."

Wu Guoguang asked, "Are you sure?"

His tone was emotionless.

He instinctively felt this was Su Hao's way of shifting the burden.

After all, these people didn't look like warriors.

Especially the baby in the woman's arms, which might be the key issue.

It was hard to raise a child in the bank building. If they were sent to the Chengdu base with their parents, they could get milk and other supplies.

Wu Guoguang nodded silently. He didn't want to argue about this—enough people had already died. It was good that a child could survive.

At least, he had done something for those poor survivors...

The dinner didn't last long, and Wu Guoguang controlled his drinking, but his steps were already a bit unsteady.

He was happy—after all, as a researcher, Su Hao was like a comrade, and they had many topics to discuss. Handing over those five people as warriors, though a way to shift the burden, also showed that this young man wasn't cold-hearted.

Li Li supported Wu Guoguang out of the building and into the SUV.

"There's something I need to remind you—"

Just as the driver was about to start the engine, Su Hao walked to the window and said seriously to Wu Guoguang, "The zombies are evolving. Many individuals have undergone a second mutation. The number of red blood zombies you saw last time will increase. I suggest you apply for reinforcements or even cancel the monitoring station."

Wu Guoguang laughed and nodded repeatedly.

It was clear he didn't take Su Hao's warning seriously.

The SUV quickly drove away.

Zhou Chen walked out of the building, standing behind Su Hao, and asked nervously, "He... didn't notice?"

Su Hao watched the car drive away and shook his head, "He and Du Tianhao are the same type. If he had noticed something, he would have exploded on the spot, not kept it in."

Inviting Wu Guoguang to dinner was not without purpose.

Xin Yan chose a ring from a jewelry store.

She used a file to open the ring and made a very small, sharp barb on the inside. This barb was sharp enough to pierce the skin when shaking hands but not painful enough to be noticeable, and it wouldn't even draw blood.

A small amount of Su Hao's blood was smeared on the metal barb. He couldn't force Wu Guoguang to be injected, but the blood on the ring, though minimal, was enough to introduce black particles into Wu Guoguang's body.

The same method had been tested on Li Li. Su Hao wanted to see if he and Wu Guoguang could become his "worker bees."

This was a secret experiment. How to obtain new blood samples from the two in a month was the next step.