Chapter 264 - 241: There Is Still an SSR

Chapter 264: Chapter 241: There Is Still an SSR

With help from Yu Dong and Lin Mo, Qiao Yunliang successfully took control of the cruise ship, integrating the forces of a small portion of the combat teams and nearly the entire logistics department.

They also recruited the 50 university students who were drone operators from Combat Team Two, and they became a significant asset to the military.

Yu Dong sent Jiang Zhuoyu to coordinate with his drone-operating classmates. In his current position... he no longer needed a secretary.

After striking a deal with the military, Zhou and his chemical plant continued to produce explosives and incendiaries for them.

By integrating the cruise ship’s drone army, logistics, and production capabilities, the military’s strength grew by leaps and bounds!

Every mission they undertook was a combined air-ground operation.

Qiao Yunliang studied Yu Dong’s tactics, learning to use structures to funnel zombie hordes and deploy incendiary bombs. He also continued to assemble crossbow teams for silent assaults.

However, they were no longer focused on scavenging for supplies. Instead, they concentrated all their strength on one major task: hunting down Cai Hong!

The heavy snow that day had covered Cai Hong’s tracks, preventing them from giving immediate chase. All they could do was lock down a general area and launch continuous operations. They had to hunt him down and kill him!

Otherwise, he would become their most terrifying enemy!

He held a grudge against the cruise ship and was capable of anything.

Qiao Yunliang was handling this exceptionally well, and Yu Dong approved of his strategy.

Wang Dingbei was reinstated and partnered with Lin Mo to govern the cruise ship, allowing the expanded military to campaign outside without worry.

The cruise ship’s power was greater than ever before!

Lin Mo and Advisor Li worked together to revise the cruise ship’s economic policies. They abolished the separate benefit packages for the combat and logistics teams, reclassifying everyone under a unified ’Soldier’s Pay,’ with the same standards as the ship’s technicians.

However, there were additional ’field duty allowances,’ ’winter allowances,’ and ’meal allowances’...

All of Qiao Yunliang’s actions sent a clear signal: they would do better than Yu Dong had.

Whether in eliminating zombies or managing internal affairs, they would outperform him.

The people would be happier.

On the surface, the cruise ship did indeed seem to be growing stronger.

After monitoring Yu Dong and his former subordinates for a while, Qiao Yunliang gradually withdrew his men. He left just one orderly to follow Yu Dong, ostensibly to ’protect his personal safety’.

Yu Dong grew accustomed to it.

His authority as the former leader remained, and his core followers were still with him. Even though he had surrendered power, the military couldn’t just ignore him completely.

「Day 121 of the Apocalypse. Early morning.」

Yu Chengfei carried his Liuhe greatspear and began his morning practice.

He was no longer an instructor. The retired members of the combat teams had stopped training; they figured it was useless and preferred to sleep in.

The military didn’t need his training, either. They had their own instructors, who were also very skilled.

So he could only train by himself.

Just as he began his forms, a voice sounded from behind.

"Uncle Yu, how about you teach me some of the real stuff?"

Yu Dong walked over, carrying a three-meter-long Liuhe greatspear of his own.

"You want to learn now? Will you even have any use for it?"

"Well, I’ve got nothing but time on my hands."

Yu Chengfei laughed.

"Have I ever told you... you have the most talent of anyone on this cruise ship?"

"Really? Kai told me you said the same thing to him."

"That was because you hadn’t shown up yet... Raise your spear!"

As Yu Dong followed Yu Chengfei’s instruction, practicing the Liuhe greatspear in the early morning light, power flowed through the long weapon with his every move. He wielded it with a ferocious energy that seemed to stir the very air.

The spear in his hands was like an extension of his body, striking wherever he aimed with perfect ease.

After two hours of training, Yu Chengfei and Yu Dong headed back to the ship for a meal, both feeling they could have gone on for longer.

At the table, Yu Dong asked, "Uncle Yu, let’s say... let’s say I met you before the apocalypse. Is there any way I could have convinced you that I’m a Reincarnator?"

"Hmm... I can teach you a couple of my ultimate techniques. I developed them myself, and... I haven’t taught them to anyone else. They’re reserved for a personal disciple. If you could perform those before the apocalypse, then I’d definitely believe you."

"Okay, teach me, Uncle!"

"Then come train with me again this afternoon."

After breakfast, Yu Dong went up on deck. He looked out at the unchanging A Port and sighed.

’If everyone’s ’key’ is this complicated, this is going to kill me...’

Yu Dong had nothing to do lately and was completely idle. He was technically an honorary advisor, but the military never consulted him on anything, and he couldn’t be bothered to offer them unsolicited advice.

Besides... to be honest, the cruise ship was doing well now. The military had made things fairer and more logical, fixing some of the problems that he himself had found difficult to change.

Yu Dong had been worried at first, but now he was gradually letting those concerns go.

An idle mind tends to wander.

Yu Dong’s mind wandered a lot. Part of his thoughts were about his current life, but its future—whether he lived or died—was no longer in his hands.

It was up to Qiao Yunliang at the helm now.

Yu Dong hoped they could achieve the great work he had left unfinished: eliminating the zombie hordes and establishing peace.

But... the fact that the fugitive Cai Hong still hadn’t been caught was a weight on his mind.

Yu Dong knew full well just how much Cai Hong hated him.

That was why Yu Dong had refused to let him go free, sending him to Meng Dongqing’s laboratory instead...

Now, his hatred had compounded.

Yu Dong was afraid he’d wake up one day to find a giant, muscular zombie grinning viciously down at him...

’So, he’d been thinking a lot lately about what he would do... if he died and was reincarnated again.’

’How should I plan my next moves?’

First, Yu Dong decided, he absolutely had to secure the reliable new teammates he’d found in this life.

Especially an SSR-tier ally like Yu Chengfei. He could serve as an instructor and fight on the front lines. It was no exaggeration to say that Uncle Yu had single-handedly pulled them through many battles where they should have suffered heavy casualties.

’A lifetime of training, all in preparation for the apocalypse!’

’I have to get him on my side!’

Beyond that, Yu Dong knew he had to recruit many other reliable people to strengthen his own position in the next life.