Chapter 182 - 171: Golden Sand Villa District Settlement

Chapter 182: Chapter 171: Golden Sand Villa District Settlement

Proactive policies would bring in more recruits.

On the eve of the point system’s implementation, a combat team that enjoyed special privileges and maintained a zero-casualty record was obviously very attractive.

This was especially true for those who had initially been on the fence. After serving as combat logistics personnel, they had come into contact with zombies and seen firsthand how the combat team killed them, which completely demystified the creatures.

’They’re just useless trash, unable to break through our armor even if they give it their all.’

As long as you weren’t surrounded and torn apart, it didn’t even matter if you got scratched or bitten by a zombie.

Besides, their area wasn’t densely populated with zombies. The most concentrated spot had been the hotel street by the port, and that had already been cleared out by the two drone operators. The zombie density ahead would definitely not exceed what they had already faced.

At this point, the combat team’s fighting intensity had dropped to its lowest level, making it the perfect time to jump in!

And so, on the sixth day of the apocalypse, the combat team had expanded to a force of 42 people.

They also brought along a logistics team to help them build fortifications, clean up the battlefields, and transport supplies.

As for how the logistics team, lacking the combat suits, could guarantee their safety...

One of the guys on the logistics team drove a modified semi-truck. When it was time to work, they would get down from the back; otherwise, a bunch of them would just watch the scenery from the trailer and provide intel.

Liu Ye’ye and Shen Xinyi also boarded the semi-truck.

Liu Ye’ye had taken on two new drone operator apprentices, who were now on the truck learning from her.

That morning, when Yu Dong’s group was ambushed by zombies from behind, the guy driving the truck simply ran them over like speed bumps...

They kept hearing a zombie groaning on the road and spent a good while searching before finding a bloody, sizzling, pancake-shaped zombie stuck under the semi’s rear wheel.

While Yu Dong and his team advanced east along Binhai Avenue, Sun Shan was also extending the fortifications.

He crossed Binhai Avenue and blocked off Huanggang Road, the route used to transport goods north from A Port, with all sorts of scrap materials. Although it wouldn’t stop a large horde, it could easily keep small groups of zombies on the other side, thus ensuring the safety of Binhai Avenue.

Yu Dong and his crew led the combat team, pushing steadily eastward!

After clearing the hotel street, they passed a large cultural and creative park. It was a renovated old port, complete with a few train engines, and was typically a place for casual strolls.

CRACKLE, POP! All the zombies were eliminated!

They cleared out a coffee shop, two milk tea shops, and a bar.

They obtained a large quantity of sanity-restoring coffee beans, tea leaves, milk products, and bottled liquor. They also "arrested" a very cute and sweet-looking milk tea girl and sent her back to the cruise ship base.

The Milk Tea Girl thought she would never be able to return to her old life... and then Yu Dong assigned her to open a milk tea and coffee shop on the fourth deck of the cruise ship.

The Milk Tea Girl was speechless. "..."

"It’s like this fucking apocalypse is for nothing!"

"My whole fucking life is just shaking milk tea!"

"This life is so fucking full of hope!"

Huang Zhiqiang, who had been about to hit on her, heard the girl drop three F-bombs and immediately bailed.

’I thought she was a sweet, cute girl, but she’s a total badass...’

Along the way, they also continuously encountered various restaurants and hotels, which they cleared out as they went. But these two types of places... how to put it?

In Huang’s own words: "No creativity. It’s always the same old three things."

"Restaurants have grain, oil, and liquor. Hotels have bedding, toiletries, and mineral water."

"There’s no sense of anticipation when you’re looting them."

Despite his words, Huang conscientiously led the logistics team to load everything onto the truck, not leaving a single thing behind. He wanted to ensure that the next survivor who wandered in full of hope would leave cursing their lungs out.

The best place they looted today was a Lawson convenience store.

Its shelves were stocked with a large amount of packaged food.

And it was all higher quality than what you’d find in a small corner store.

"A convenience store! Sweet!"

When they opened the small stockroom, they saw two survivors inside, a man and a woman, both holding clubs. They had been living off the store’s food.

Yu Dong pulled out his gun and aimed it at them. The two clubs immediately fell to the floor.

Yu Dong lowered his gun, smiled, and took their hands.

"Don’t be afraid, we’re not bad people. Starting today, you won’t have to eat this junk food anymore. We have hot meals on the ship. Come with me!"

"Huang, have the guys clear out the convenience store and move everything to the supermarket on the fourth deck."

The two survivors felt like something wasn’t quite right, but... he did have a gun.

On the sixth day of the apocalypse, the number of people rescued was slightly lower, with only three individuals.

This was mainly because the large cultural park was too open, with no cover. When the zombie virus broke out here... there was nowhere to hide except in the few shops inside. But the shops... also had zombies.

Therefore, only the three luckiest people survived.

"Get the Milk Tea Girl started on her new post early. I want a coconut latte tomorrow morning."

"The couple we found seem pretty sharp. See if they’re willing to join the combat team or logistics."

"We’ll continue advancing tomorrow."

During dinner, Yu Dong gave a brief summary. There wasn’t much to say. Everyone knew what they needed to do, and the system was gradually stabilizing.

Qiao Ping’s first version of the point system had already begun trial runs internally. Fearing that people might exploit bugs, she only had a small number of people simulate it.

Lin Mo continued her counseling work, spending at least half an hour talking with every newcomer. She recorded each person’s experiences and personality traits in her red notebook.

She had no official team members, but... secretly, people like Lin Cong, Lin Zhixue, and Huang Henian acted as her eyes and ears.

She could hear the things that Yu Dong and Wang Dingbei couldn’t.

While the combat team was constantly pushing forward on the outside, she had already silently dealt with eight troublemakers without any open conflict. Those who could be guided were guided. Those who couldn’t... were sent to be Cai Hong’s neighbors.

Many of the crew had actually noticed... that Cai Hong hadn’t been seen in public for a very long time.

Someone had asked Captain Chen Guangzong, but he refused to mention the matter and kept a respectful distance from the topic.

...

「On the seventh day of the apocalypse.」

Everyone continued eastward on the semi-truck.

They entered the tourist area: Golden Sand Bathing Beach.

"Logically, there should be a lot of people here... Many locals come here for walks in the evening, and there are also out-of-town tourists having barbecues and whatnot."

"When the outbreak happened, everyone on the beach must have died. No one could have survived."

"It looks like the high and low tides washed all the zombies away... Saved us a lot of trouble."

After clearing out the few remaining zombies, they began to sweep the entire Golden Sand Bathing Beach.

They found a rip-off corner store, an unfinished seaside apartment complex, and a beach playground.

It was frighteningly poor in resources.

Huang Zhiqiang searched high and low but couldn’t find anything good. Finally, in a fit of frustration... he saw a pile of vehicles at the entrance to the beach.

"Let’s haul all these share bikes back!"

A team that drove a hundred-ton beast of a truck could afford to be this wild.

In the afternoon, the group continued on and arrived at a villa district.

Specifically, the Golden Sand No. 1 Villa district. This was where Yu Dong’s dream had begun.

During his first rebirth, he had considered this place for his shelter, but ultimately gave it up because the villas weren’t as well-sealed as the apartment buildings in the Xiangti Bay Community.

"Huang, Youcai, you two died here."

Huang Zhiqiang and Zhao Youcai: "???"

"Why would we have died here?"

"That’s so weird, isn’t it?"

Yu Dong pondered for a moment. "Because Xufeng had a big appetite that day."

After he explained, Huang Zhiqiang scratched his head. "Sounds like something I’d do... I wouldn’t have hidden it from Xufeng."

But Zhao Youcai’s eyes grew slightly red.

"Dongzi, so... from your very first rebirth, you’ve been trying your best to save me, right?"

Across three rebirths, that bullet had finally hit the Zhao Youcai of this moment.

"Hey, we’re brothers. I had to at least try... I just didn’t keep you two with me because I was afraid that if you turned into zombies, you’d be too powerful for me to handle."

The first time around, Yu Dong had no idea what zombies were. All he knew was that they were strong and fast. He didn’t know if they had superpowers or if they could mutate, so he didn’t dare keep the two of them close, not even in the next room.

He was afraid he couldn’t handle it...

It wasn’t until he gradually came to understand the zombies’ abilities that he dared to go out and kill them.

Naturally, there wouldn’t be many people in a villa district, but Yu Dong’s group encountered the most unexpected change since his latest rebirth.

A survivor settlement had actually formed here.

Not a single zombie groan could be heard in the entire villa district.

At the key entrances to the district, they had erected homemade wooden chevaux de frise and barbed wire fences, effectively blocking zombies from entering.

Behind the defensive line, a row of people emerged, holding homemade weapons.

Their homemade weapons were long wooden poles with sharp knives tied to the ends, shaped like spears. They were stained with a considerable amount of blood.

"Whoa~ Looks like we’ve met some experts."

Yu Dong clapped his hands. On this whole journey, they had finally run into a decent team.