Chapter 234 - 218: Qiao Deceives People Again in This Life

Chapter 234: Chapter 218: Qiao Deceives People Again in This Life

"Someone has deliberately cleared out the zombies in this area, and they know about this path."

"Look. These zombie skulls have holes in them. They were shot."

"If I’m not mistaken... we’re in trouble."

After examining the zombie corpses they’d found along the path, Yu Dong came to a conclusion.

"The military sub-district’s armory... there’s a good chance someone has already occupied it."

That was why, even though they had already emerged from the wooded hills and could see the military sub-district’s large compound, Yu Dong had halted the group, keeping them concealed within the trees.

From their vantage point, they could see the entire military sub-district. On the outside, it resembled a typical government complex, with a low, electric retractable gate and a massive, imposing building set within.

The retractable gate was now fortified with high, thick walls of sandbags. Outside of that were layers of barricades, proving Yu Dong’s point.

There were people inside!

At the main entrance stood two towering watchtowers, a feature not found at ordinary facilities.

The surrounding terrain was wide open. A full kilometer of flat ground separated the edge of the wooded hills from the compound. With those watchtowers... if they were to attack rashly, they would be completely exposed and mowed down from the high ground.

Furthermore, the watchtowers looked incredibly thick and sturdy, complete with dedicated firing slits. They would be a tough nut to crack.

Zhao Youcai and the combat team understood at once. The dark forest law of the apocalypse was in effect—it was time to prepare for a fight.

"Dongzi, why don’t we have the drone team send a drone in for recon? We can see what their numbers and equipment are like. We can try to communicate with them, and if that fails... we’ll just use the drone to blow up both of their watchtowers!"

If there was a significant number of people inside, armed with the contents of such a large armory... this could be the greatest threat Yu Dong’s group had ever faced.

Luckily, they weren’t without countermeasures of their own.

Just as Yu Dong was about to lay out his strategy, Qiao Yunliang interrupted him.

"That won’t be necessary. We can go straight in. The people inside... are ours."

Then, to Yu Dong’s utter astonishment, Qiao Yunliang pulled out a satellite phone and dialed a number.

"Zheng, we’re outside, preparing to enter the military sub-district."

"Yes, sir! The entire armory guard squad awaits your inspection!"

"Let’s go. We’re heading in!"

Qiao Yunliang gave a hand signal. The soldiers fell into formation and began advancing toward the military sub-district to finally reunite with their forces in victory.

’There are soldiers inside!’

’And they’ve been in contact with Qiao Yunliang this whole time!’

Yu Dong watched the backs of Qiao Yunliang and his men, utterly stunned.

’Qiao Yunliang never told me the military sub-district was under his control.’

Zhao Youcai broke out in a cold sweat!

’If Yu Dong had actually taken my advice and stalled the main military force while we cleared the western part of Binhai Avenue to seize the armory... we would have had to fight a defending force with heavy firepower!’

’What a mess that would’ve been. We’d have been trapped, unable to fight and unable to retreat.’

’On top of that, sneaking over here on our own would have completely destroyed our relationship with the military. We’d have lost all of Qiao Yunliang’s support and become his enemies.’

"So they’re friendlies! Guess we don’t have to fight after all, hehe~" Yan Yikai was still grinning like an idiot, happy to have avoided a battle.

A bitter expression crossed Zhao Youcai’s face. He had come so close to leading the team to their deaths...

In that moment, he finally understood the true value of Yu Dong’s insistence on taking the high road. Only through sincere cooperation with the military had they achieved their current state of harmony, and all without losing control of the cruise ship.

He looked toward Yu Dong, who happened to be looking right back at him.

Their gazes met, and nothing needed to be said.

Yu Dong suddenly remembered something Qiao Yunliang had said a few days ago.

"We’re running low on ammo. We have to save what’s left for the final battle at the military sub-district. Over here, we’ll have to rely on you, Yu Dong."

Qiao Yunliang had said he needed to save his remaining bullets for the final battle at the military sub-district. Yu Dong had assumed he was talking about zombified soldiers, but in reality...

’The Qiao Yunliang who always smiled warmly, showed concern for the people, and humbly learned from their team... was so shrewd that none of them had ever noticed!’

’Qiao tricked me again in this life...’

Realizing he had been tricked yet again in this life, Yu Dong was speechless.

That old fox Qiao Yunliang was a master of deception. He never told a single lie, yet he led them to all the wrong conclusions!

’He never said he didn’t have people at the military sub-district... he just kept saying they had to fight their way over to reclaim it.’

Fortunately, Yu Dong’s persistence had kept them on the right path in this timeline, allowing them to earn the military’s trust.

"Let’s go, we’ll follow them. I’m going to make sure I squeeze some guns out of that old liar this time!"

’So much for "Commander." From now on, you’re just Qiao the Liar!’

’Damn it!’

The group successfully entered the military sub-district and met the garrison.

"Sir! Squad Leader Zheng Zhonghu of the armory guard squad, all eight members present, reporting!"

A burly, tough-looking middle-aged soldier saluted Qiao Yunliang.

The other seven men saluted in perfect unison.

Qiao Yunliang solemnly returned the salute. "Zheng, have our men take over the watch duty. Take us to the armory."

The armory was in a highly secure underground bunker, protected by reinforced concrete walls and a massive blast door. Yu Dong figured the door was much thicker than one on a bank vault; the security level was incredibly high.

On the way, Qiao Yunliang introduced Yu Dong.

"Zheng, this is the capable civilian I told you about, Yu Dong. Without him and his people, who knows when we would’ve made it back..."

Zheng Zhonghu glanced at Yu Dong and enthusiastically extended his hand. "Thank you, Yu Dong, for helping our commander return! Our entire squad deeply respects what you all have accomplished in this apocalypse!"

"You’re too kind. We were just doing what had to be done."

Regardless, they had made the right choice and secured the best possible future.

Yu Dong, Zhao Youcai, Yu Chengfei, Huang Zhiqiang, and Liu Hao all followed them into Yanhai City’s largest armory. The interior was divided into separate rooms, each lined with rows of shelves stacked neatly with crates of ammunition and firearms.

Zheng Zhonghu explained, "Yanhai City isn’t a designated combat zone, and our sub-district isn’t a combat unit. Our primary mission is recruiting and training the reserve militia. So, our inventory is mostly training equipment, not active-duty main battle hardware. What we have are mostly retired Type 56 and Type 81 rifles, a small number of Type 92 pistols, plus two sniper grenade launchers and two rocket launchers."

Zheng Zhonghu was explaining primarily for Yu Dong’s benefit; as the highest-ranking officer of this facility, Qiao Yunliang already knew everything like the back of his hand.

Hearing this, Yu Dong asked, "So you’re well-stocked on small arms... What about ammunition? Do you have many armor-piercing rounds?"

"We mostly have 7.62mm rifle rounds, around 300,000 of them. We’ve also got over 10,000 9mm pistol rounds. We’re very short on 40mm grenades and rockets. As for armor-piercing rounds, those are for combat, so a unit like ours normally wouldn’t have any... but President Qiao applied for some for special training, and command sent over two crates. In total, there are 3,000 rounds of 7.62mm armor-piercing ammo, still in their seals."

"Three thousand rounds... We’ll have to save those for the special variant zombies. Regular rounds should be fine for the common ones."

After taking stock, Qiao Yunliang was visibly re-energized.

After being so low on ammunition for so long, they were finally restocked.

Even though the armory was stocked with retired military equipment, it was more than enough to deal with zombies.

This haul was incredibly bountiful!

It gave Qiao Yunliang’s forces the ability to fight the hard battles ahead!

With a grand wave of his hand, Qiao Yunliang ordered, "Move it all out! We’re taking it to the cruise ship base."

The military sub-district in the North River District wasn’t an ideal location. While its remoteness offered high security, Qiao Yunliang had no intention of letting his army hide out here...

They had to step up and liberate Yanhai City!

This was the order handed down from high command to every regional leader like him.

Binhai Avenue, which Yu Dong had spearheaded the effort to secure, would be the staging ground from which they would sound the horn for their counteroffensive.

Right now, Yu Dong was focused on a more practical matter.

"Qiao, my people helped you get to the military sub-district and complete the mission. I’ll need a portion of the guns and ammo to arm my group. You did promise me that."

Even though Qiao Yunliang was fond of ’deception,’ Yu Dong believed he would keep a promise he had made personally.

"No problem! Once we get everything back to the cruise ship, we can sort out the details. The zombie horde you predicted is almost here anyway... We’ll get back, distribute the weapons, and face it together. If we can handle the horde, we can start establishing our own base."

"Deal!"

The cruise ship group and the military would divide the weapons while remaining separate entities, cooperating as allies. For Yu Dong and his people, this was the best possible strategy.

They could maintain their independence while still fighting together for the future of Yanhai City.

The main force began hauling the ammunition and firearms. They made the five-kilometer cross-country trek back to Binhai Avenue, where, under the military’s strict supervision, everything was loaded onto large trucks and transported back to the cruise ship base.

On the way back, Yu Dong and Zhao Youcai were already discussing how many guns they should request from the military and who among their people should receive them.

Yu Dong was considering forming a Combat Team Two to be the primary firearms unit, with Combat Team One receiving only a few.

After all, the members of Combat Team One were already proficient with crossbows and spears, which would remain their primary weapons. Even though they had a lot of new ammunition, every bullet was still a finite resource that had to be used sparingly.

That evening, while Qiao Yunliang, Advisor Li, Squad Leader Zheng, and Yu Dong’s group were in the leadership team’s office discussing the specifics of dividing the weapons... there was a knock at the door.

Jiang Zhuoyu opened the office door, revealing a squad of soldiers outside, armed with live ammunition.

A young soldier, Qian Chenglin, shouted, his face set with determination:

"Sir, we object to distributing weapons to the cruise ship’s combat team. They don’t deserve them!"

The declaration left everyone in the room stunned.