Chapter 692: The Zombie Army’s Plan

Chu Miao looked at the dates written beside the human bases.

The earliest one was only six days away.

If the information on the map was accurate, the zombies were planning to attack three medium-sized bases at the same time.

Ten days later, another five bases would be attacked.

The larger bases, including City A and the Capital Base, were scheduled for later.

This was not a random list.

The Zombie King was planning to wear down the human population gradually, starting with bases that had weaker defenses. Once those places fell, the surviving zombies would join the main army before moving on to the next targets.

"It knows how to preserve its forces," Ye Xuan said.

"And increase them," Chu Hao added. "Every base that falls will provide fresh flesh and crystal cores. Some of the survivors might also turn into zombies."

Lei Ying examined the arrows drawn between the cities.

Most of them passed through old highways and abandoned towns. Some routes even avoided places that humans regularly visited during missions.

"These routes are carefully selected," he said. "The zombies aren’t just gathering together and moving wherever they want. Someone studied the roads."

The saber-toothed tiger lowered its head to look at the map.

"They still have to walk there, don’t they?"

Lei Ying glanced at it. "What else would they do? Drive?"

The tiger thought for a moment.

"Some of them remember how to open doors. Maybe they remember how to drive."

Everyone in the room became quiet.

Lei Ying slowly turned back to the map.

"That was not a suggestion."

The possibility wasn’t entirely ridiculous.

The intelligent zombies had recovered a great deal of their human memories. They knew how to wear clothes, avoid traps, control weaker zombies, and organize armies.

If some of them remembered how to operate vehicles, there was no guarantee that they wouldn’t use them.

Of course, fitting thousands of zombies into cars would be troublesome, but the Zombie King didn’t need to transport the entire army that way. It could send a few intelligent zombies ahead to spy on human bases or destroy important defenses.

"We will warn the guards to watch vehicles as well," Chu Miao said.

Lei Ying gave his contract beast a resentful look.

The saber-toothed tiger raised its head proudly.

It had helped.

Little White wandered around the underground command room while the others studied the maps.

There were several office chairs, metal cabinets, broken computers, and communication equipment. None of the machines were running, but the room was too clean to have been abandoned for two years.

The intelligent zombies had clearly used it recently.

Little White stopped in front of a locked cabinet and tapped it with one paw.

"Master, there is something inside."

"Open it."

Little White extended a claw.

The thick lock fell to the floor with a soft click.

Its movements were so effortless that Lei Ying looked down at the metal rod he had picked up to pry open another cabinet and quietly put it aside.

Chu Hao noticed and smiled.

"You could still use it."

"No need. I was only checking whether it was strong."

"And?"

"Very strong."

Chu Hao decided to give him some face and said nothing more.

Inside the cabinet were several notebooks and stacks of paper.

Chu Miao picked up the notebook on top.

The handwriting was untidy, but still readable. Most of the contents were numbers, locations, and brief observations about nearby human settlements.

Some pages recorded the number of ability users in each base.

Others listed the locations of grain warehouses, military stores, fuel stations, and underground shelters.

One page even described the defenses surrounding City A.

"The information isn’t current," Ye Xuan said after reading over her shoulder. "These defenses were replaced months ago."

"But it proves that zombies have entered City A before."

They might not have entered as an army.

An intelligent zombie that looked human from a distance could mix with survivors heading toward the city. If it controlled its hunger and hid its red eyes, it might pass through the outer checkpoints.

The city used equipment to detect infection, but the equipment had been designed for ordinary zombies and newly infected humans.

No one knew whether it could identify a high-level zombie that had changed internally.

Chu Miao flipped to the next page.

A rough drawing of City A appeared before her.

Several important places had been marked, including the power station, water facility, military district, and two evacuation shelters.

The Chu Sect was marked as an unknown area.

Beside it were four words.

Do not approach rashly.

Chu Hao leaned closer and read the warning.

"At least they know their limits."

"They know that many high-level zombies disappeared near our sect," Chu Miao said. "The Zombie King must have realized that something there could kill them."

The defensive array hid most of what happened inside, making it difficult for outsiders to understand the sect’s true strength.

That uncertainty had probably protected them from several attacks.

However, they couldn’t rely on it forever.

Once the Zombie King decided to send tens of millions of zombies at once, even the strongest array would consume a terrifying number of spirit stones.

"We should check every survivor who has entered City A during the past few months," Ye Xuan said.

"That would be too many people," Lei Ying replied. "Some might have already left."

"Start with those who avoid sunlight, never eat in public, or refuse medical examinations. We should also check for unexplained disappearances near the outer districts."

High-level zombies could control their instincts, but they still ate human flesh.

If any had entered the city, people might have gone missing.

Chu Miao stored all the notebooks and papers in the Soul Ring.

The professors would examine them later.

"Search the entire room. Don’t leave anything behind."

Everyone separated.

They opened cabinets, checked drawers, and examined the equipment.

Most of what they found was ordinary. There were batteries, old radios, maps, pens, tools, and several sets of clean clothing.