Apocalypse: the Most Ruthless Person - Chapter 334 - 283: First to the Prize?
In an instant, both convoys arrived at the south gate of the Cyan Dragon Corps military camp.
The main entrance of the camp is to the north, but there’s also a five-meter-wide iron gate to the south, usually accessible for trucks and such, but now a complete mess.
The iron grille had fallen from its hinges and was thrown aside, crushing several misshaped zombie corpses underneath. Two human bodies lay dead beneath the wall, with only the lower halves remaining, which, if not aware of the situation, would have been hard to distinguish.
Bullet holes dotted the wall, and the ground showed signs of bombing and scorching. Looking along the wall, perhaps because this wasn’t the main battleground, the number of corpses wasn’t too high, but a section not far away had collapsed, with bricks scattered around, hiding some broken limbs.
Overall, the scene before them was no less than a WWII battlefield!
“Damn, it’s really tough to defend such a big place!”
Zhao Dezhu shook his head repeatedly at the grim scene, once again admiring Zhang Su’s choice of location.
Despite Celestial Horse Island being a bit remote, without the convenient access of villages or camps, lacking vast farmable land, its steep and narrow mountain roads make it not too difficult to defend. Even if tens of thousands of zombies sieged, they’d be limited by the narrow paths.
Built on a mountain, with only one path up, there’s no worry of zombies flanking from other directions, unlike a camp where attacks can come from all sides – in a zombie siege, it’s hopeless!
“The Cyan Dragon Corps just has too few people!”
Xin Qi lamented.
Zhang Su shook his head with a strange expression: “Having more or fewer people each has its own advantages. The Cyan Dragon Corps was ultimately wiped out by zombies because they chose the wrong place. This place is just not suitable as a headquarters! Thinking being stationed in the county was impressive, little did they know they were sowing disaster with that decision!”
With the camp’s open geography, defending against that scale of a zombie horde would be tough, regardless of numbers.
Fewer people speaking for itself, with such long walls to cover, they’d probably have to flee in the face of a zombie attack. Having more people doesn’t work either – as per the confirmed attraction hypothesis, a population increase attracts larger zombie hordes, and the fall of the Cyan Dragon Corps adds weight to this theory.
Unless they’re strong enough to withstand all zombies in the area, which would require exceedingly powerful military backing, something the Cyan Dragon Corps clearly lacked. Setting camp here was a doomed decision!
The topic discussed inside Meng Changwei’s vehicle was similar to Zhang Su’s side. Their location wasn’t a flat plain either, but a deserted village halfway up a mountain.
The convoy pressed inward, not stopping at the entrance. At the same time, Zhang Su honked the car horn.
This action startled the Bridge Town people initially, but they quickly realized the other party was using sound to attract hidden zombies and clear potential dangers, so they followed suit.
Owwww!
Bang, bang… bang, bang…
Soon, some places issued howling noises and knocks on wooden boards, unusually jarring in the quiet camp.
However, before everyone could locate the potential danger, as the vehicle turned past a dormitory building towards the playground, they suddenly discovered several cars parked outside a warehouse, engines still running, exhaust spewing white smoke!
“Someone got here first!”
Zhang Su stopped honking, eyes narrowing in the warehouse’s direction!
“Damn, who dares to intercept us, damn it, take them out!”
Zhao Dezhu immediately bristled. After all their hard work with zombies and sneaking into Bridge Town, here was a group secretly sneaking in to start moving things, completely disregarding them!
At the same time, about a dozen zombies emerged from a building of unknown purpose, swaying towards the convoy.
“Master Zhang, someone’s here!”
Meng Changwei drove to the side of the FJ Cruiser, speaking grimly.
“I see them, deal with the zombies first!”
Zhang Su, whose face was also far from pleasant, quickly jumped out of the car, dealing with the zombies with his crew, before driving again towards the warehouse.
Before the vehicle could near the warehouse entrance, they saw ten or more people slowly coming out, each holding standard rifles, some even shouldering rocket launchers, looking exceptionally smug.
“Lei Youliang!!”
Zhang Su immediately spotted the man in the leather jacket among them.
Even after the great cold wave dropped temperatures below minus twenty degrees, Lei Youliang still wore his meticulously fitted leather jacket, quite a show of image management, except his red-tinted nose was somewhat amusing.
At that moment, Lei Youliang, with around seventeen or eighteen people, not only included those from Kuanzhuang negotiating Su Xiaoya’s ransom but also new faces, perhaps implying Kuanzhuang’s entire force had been mobilized.
“Mr. Zhang, two days no see, how’s life?”
Lei Youliang, looking like a graphics card vendor, only holding not a B200 but a fully automatic rifle, smiling confidently as such vendors do!
Meng Changwei and the Bridge Town folks stood aside, faces inscrutable.
In the post-apocalyptic world, the leaders are all savvy individuals, and it was clear to him that there was some conflict between Zhang Su and this group of first-comers. He planned to quietly stand aside and watch.
As for whether he needed to step in and help, that would be decided later. However, he was already prepared for a fight, because the items the other party took didn’t just belong to Zhang Su, they also had a share!
When it was just Celestial Horse Island and Bridge Town, things were simple. But now with the sudden appearance of Kuanzhuang, things got much more complicated!
Zhang Su’s face showed no emotion, coldly saying, “I haven’t truly admired anyone since the apocalypse, but now I can say, Village Chief Lei, I really admire you. You have courage, boldness, and initiative!”
“No wonder you didn’t agree to my request back then, you were waiting for me here? It seems like Su Xiaoya’s life doesn’t mean much to you?”
The people behind Zhang Su lined up one by one, some on guard, others watching Kuanzhuang, not intimidated by the armed opponents.
So what if they have weapons?
Don’t we have them too?
The atmosphere was extremely tense!
However, Lei Youliang seemed unfazed by the tension, smiling as he said, “Why would I not value Xiaoya’s life? It’s just that now I have more bargaining chips, don’t I?”
As he spoke, he waved towards the warehouse behind him, clearly indicating that everything inside was his, and that he could negotiate a trade with them!
Zhang Su seemed not to grasp Lei Youliang’s intentions, asking, “Where did you guys come from?”
“I saw Mr. Zhang busy with his brothers earlier, figured I wouldn’t be of much help, so I went around from the north.”
“Damn it, shameless bastards, we were risking our lives luring the zombies, and you guys are here taking advantage, are you even human?”
Zhao Dezhu couldn’t help but curse.
During previous missions, he was either injured or hurt, and finally, during this important one, they ran into these bastards, making him furious.
“This guy is just talking nonsense!”
Lei Youliang’s face darkened, saying, “Does your luring zombies have anything to do with me coming to the military camp for supplies? Just because you got here first and drove the zombies away doesn’t mean we can’t come for resources! That wouldn’t make sense before, let alone now!”
“You f***ing…”
“Stop arguing, Zhuzi.” Zhang Su stopped Zhao Dezhu. In such a situation, arguing was pointless.
He looked up at Lei Youliang and said, “Village Chief Lei, I’m speaking to you nicely, do you think I’m easy to talk to? Now, immediately, take your people and leave, and I can pretend this never happened.”
“Zhang Su, you’re just as confident, or maybe arrogant, as before… but things aren’t the same as they used to be. Could you not be so reckless?”
As the negotiation continued, suddenly a woman’s voice came from the Kuanzhuang crowd.
Hearing this, Zhang Su frowned, the slightly familiar voice reminding him of a former girlfriend. He looked closely and, indeed, a tall woman emerged from the back of the crowd, though the once familiar face was now a stranger’s.
“Su Lei?” Zhang Su looked in surprise at the suddenly appearing woman.
Seeing this, not only the people from Bridge Town wore strange expressions, but even those from Celestial Horse Island had gossiping looks, and even the Kuanzhuang people were stunned.
Only Lei Youliang had an almost imperceptible smile on his lips; this was all part of his plan, but he quickly changed to a shocked expression, turning to the tall woman with exaggerated questions.
“Su Lei, you… you know him?”
Su Lei cast a peculiar glance at Lei Youliang, having never expected such a coincidence, with many questions in her heart. But this was clearly not the time or place for answers, so she softly said, “I dated Zhang Su for a while, met him last year, and we were together for over two months.”
Discussing the past, Su Lei’s face showed a complex expression, partly reminiscent, partly angry.
“I didn’t expect there to be such history between you!”
Lei Youliang’s expression shifted upon hearing this, and he sighed with a guilty look, saying, “If I’d known about your connection, I wouldn’t have brought you along, it’s too awkward now.”
He shook his head constantly, seemingly repenting his poorly handled arrangements.
“I see…” Zhang Su paid no mind to Lei Youliang’s changing expressions. It suddenly dawned on him: “I thought Su Xiaoya seemed a bit familiar; she’s your sister?”
“That’s right!” Su Lei raised her eyebrows, nodding, “I’m Su Xiaoya’s sister!”
“So… are you trying to persuade me to do something?”
After the initial shock, Zhang Su quickly returned to his usual demeanor.
If in a different setting he met a former girlfriend, there might be a chance for rekindling something, but in this time and place, there was only a possibility for bullets to fly between them!
