Chapter 223 - 207: Honeymoon Period

Chapter 223: Chapter 207: Honeymoon Period

First, Yu Dong brought Qiao Yunliang to the research institute base managed by Ji Luo.

He introduced the two to each other.

"Hahaha~ The civilian population is brimming with talent. It’s excellent that you’ve taken the initiative to unite and protect the masses!"

"Not at all, you’re too kind. We’re just protecting ourselves. To truly liberate Yanhai City, we’ll still have to rely on the army."

Qiao Yunliang didn’t hesitate to praise Ji Luo, and Ji Luo responded with equal enthusiasm.

Generally, the people in his camp had a natural affinity for the military. After all, they were all fighting zombies together for the sake of peace.

The only difference with Ji Luo’s group, however, was that... he hadn’t invited the military to move in, treating them only as collaborators.

"We’ll head out together in a bit. As it happens, we ran into a tough nut to crack yesterday. We can take care of it together."

"No problem!"

Yu Dong readily agreed.

Ji Luo was responsible for the western section of Binhai Avenue. His group was smaller, and their equipment and fortifications were inferior to the cruise ship base, to say nothing of the military.

Although Qiao’s army didn’t have much ammunition, their numbers... were staggering.

The number 270 might not sound like much, but when they all stood together, they looked like a small legion moving down Binhai Avenue. With each person holding a gun, the sight was incredibly intimidating.

And if you included the 100 soldiers assigned to logistics, their force was even more impressive.

After exchanging some pleasantries, Yu Dong dropped by the laboratory to see Meng Dongqing.

"Professor Meng, how have you been? Is there anything you need our help with?"

By now, Meng Dongqing’s research team had grown to six people. Two were biology graduate students rescued from Ocean University, and two others came from related fields. Their skill levels varied... but in any case, Yu Dong had brought them all to her.

Meng Dongqing adjusted her black-framed glasses.

"Oh, things have been going well... Our lab mice have started breeding. I’m conducting some animal experiments on the zombie virus. For now, I can basically confirm that the virus doesn’t infect animals, but it is still lethal to them."

"Oh? If animals don’t get infected, then what’s the point of experimenting on mice? Doesn’t that mean you won’t see any results?"

"That’s right. I extracted some of the mutated virus from the body of a Climber zombie and injected it into the mice. It doesn’t cause any physical mutations, but... it is lethal. The potent virus attacks various cells in their bodies, leading to organ failure and causing them to hemorrhage and die."

"Uh... and so?"

Yu Dong felt like Meng Dongqing was trying to tell him something important, but since he knew nothing about biology, he couldn’t figure out what it was.

"So, if we can develop an inactivated vaccine that allows the mice to produce antibodies and survive the virus injection, then that vaccine would very likely be effective in humans as well."

"Ah! I see! So how are things going? Have you made any..."

"No. But I have recently settled on a few directions. The virus from the Special Infected, while the same type as the one in common zombies, is more evolved and therefore has greater research value."

"Should I go get a few more Special Infected and bring them to you, then?"

"Yes. I need Climbers and Bloaters. If you find any other zombies with unique physical traits, bring those over too."

"No problem!"

Yu Dong agreed without hesitation.

Seeing Meng Dongqing trying to create a vaccine gave him a sense of reassurance.

He didn’t know if there was any real hope, but what if?

If she succeeded, she could be the savior of all humankind.

No matter how slim the odds, he would invest in and support Professor Meng’s experiments.

After leaving the research institute, the combined combat personnel from the cruise ship base, the military, and the institute base set out together, heading for an elementary school to the west.

Ji Luo didn’t come along. He didn’t like being on the front lines; he preferred to command from the rear.

Yu Dong had a feeling he didn’t dare to venture out and take risks... probably because his group’s protocols didn’t allow the leader to leave the base.

"The zombies in this elementary school are densely packed, and they’re all children. We’ve even spotted some child zombies that can climb... They’re extremely agile and stealthy, making them hard to hit with our bows and crossbows. We didn’t dare to attack rashly."

This was where Ji Luo’s group had gotten stuck.

For Yu Dong and his people, however... it wasn’t much of a problem.

Qiao Yunliang mulled it over. He didn’t think it looked too difficult either, but instead of speaking, he turned to Yu Dong.

Yu Dong didn’t stand on ceremony and immediately took charge.

"Ye Ye, have the Flyers go first."

"Okay, senior!"

Liu Ye’ye expertly led her team to set up the drones on a semi-trailer, followed by their standard tactic: lure the enemy with loudspeakers, then clear the area with firebombs.

BOOM!!!

Flames erupted across the schoolyard.

The flames reaped the lives of countless child zombies. Although they were more agile and stealthy than adult zombies, they were also more fragile, and the fire consumed them quickly.

Now that they had enough trained Flyers and an ample reserve of firebombs, Yu Dong’s team went straight for saturation coverage, effectively flash-frying the zombies.

"Napalm and drones... a useful combination."

Qiao Yunliang took notes from the sidelines.

"This Flyer team of yours is impressive... It has the feel of a modern warfare unit. Once we take the military sub-district, we’ll start building our own Flyer team as well."

"Using drones against zombies is just an unfair fight."

After incinerating a few waves of zombies, Yu Dong led his 80-person combat team to push forward.

Qiao Yunliang’s soldiers provided cover on the flanks.

A very small and agile zombie climbed a tree, using the leaves that hadn’t yet fallen to conceal itself, waiting for someone to pass underneath before pouncing...

BANG!

A soldier wearing a smart helmet with infrared thermal imaging raised his rifle and eliminated the small zombie hiding in the tree with a single shot. The team pressed on.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH~

RAT-TAT-TAT~

Most of Ji Luo’s team used longbows, and every one of them was a crack shot.

With the combined ranged power of bows, crossbows, and firearms, the zombies couldn’t get near them, and the area was cleared out swiftly.

Yu Dong even managed to capture two small Climber zombies, tying them up and sending them over to Professor Meng.

What had been a tough nut to crack for a single team was easily handled by the joint effort of three groups. The military’s firearms, even used sparingly, were more than enough to deal with these zombies.

Another horde of zombies entrenched on the western section of Binhai Avenue was wiped out, and Yu Dong didn’t even need to build fortifications.

Continuing westward, they cleared out several more factories.

During the close-quarters combat inside the factories, the use of drones and ranged weapons was severely restricted.

"Fix bayonets!"

The army had its own melee tactics. Their old Type 56 rifles were equipped with folding, tri-edged bayonets. Their defenses were no worse than the protective suits worn by Yu Dong’s team, so they had no fear of fighting the zombies hand-to-hand.

However, Yu Dong’s combat team, wielding more practical long spears and having trained in spearmanship with Yu Chengfei for so long, was even more formidable in their thrusts and parries.

Yu Chengfei himself was particularly formidable. Leading the charge with his Liuhe greatspear, he was a master of both offense and defense, skewering every zombie in his path.

Even Climber zombies were no match; Uncle Yu could spear them right out of the air.

It was as if he had a third eye.

After several consecutive battles, Qiao Yunliang’s admiration for Yu Dong’s unorthodox combat team only grew.

"Li, write down everything we’ve seen today. We need to learn from the advanced experience of Comrade Yu Dong’s combat team..."

"Yes, sir."

Until they could secure the ammunition depot in the military sub-district, Yu Dong’s methods were clearly more suitable. The army had to save its last bullets for a real crisis.

After a full day of advancing, everyone returned to the cruise ship base at night to recover their strength.

The combat and logistics teams proceeded to order their meals as usual.

Meanwhile, the soldiers, who had been eagerly anticipating tonight’s dinner, were led by Qiao Yunliang to the new dining hall on the fourth floor to be fed by their own cooks.

The light in the soldiers’ eyes visibly dimmed...

...

「Day 65 of the Apocalypse.」

The group advanced westward once more. Today, all 370 of the military’s main combat personnel joined the battle, increasing their combat effectiveness yet again!

Furthermore, at Qiao Yunliang’s request, some of his soldiers had swapped their Type 56 bayonets for long spears, and they had also borrowed two of Yu Dong’s drones to conduct coordinated training.

They were rapidly absorbing the experience of Yu Dong’s team.

After advancing swiftly, they gradually stepped into the outskirts of the North River District.

"Next up is Yanhai City’s busiest tourist district... It’s crowded with a chaotic mix of buildings. Luckily, there are no skyscrapers here, which should make things a little easier."

In the North River District, buildings were subject to height restrictions, all of them only two or three stories tall, which offered a considerable advantage for their clearing operation.

Their first stop was a hospital.

"Let’s take this hospital first. Winter is coming, and we’ll be using a lot of medicine... We can also take some professional medical equipment back to the cruise ship."

"We might even find some surviving doctors and nurses."

A hospital was clearly a high-tier resource location.

It was a prize Yu Dong had to claim.