Chapter 1137: Rescuing Old Xu (23)

Just as Tang Xiaoquan had anticipated, in no more than ten minutes, the street behind them began to rumble. Duan Chengwu glanced sideways and saw a blood-stained white van slowly approaching about 300 meters behind his car.

“It’s Xiao Hu! It’s Xiao Hu and them!” Unable to contain his excitement, Duan Chengwu eagerly shared his sight with Tang Xiaoquan in the driver’s cabin.

Tang Xiaoquan saw it clearly too, and it was hard to imagine anyone feeling more shaken than he did at that moment.

No wonder, as he had made promises to both Hua Biao and Huo Yuankai before the battle, the pressure

during the entire rescue process was more than a normal person could imagine.

He picked up the hand-held radio, exhaled lightly, and then spoke: “Hey! Old Xu, welcome back!”

Listening to the young man’s words coming from the radio, Xu Renjie couldn’t help but feel emotional, and after a brief reminiscence, he earnestly said, “Thank you.”

Immediately, the two vehicles maintained a hundred-meter distance between them, speeding towards the base camp.

No more words needed! After a swift journey on the road, the convoy finally entered the Earth Realm surrounding the base camp.

Back at home, the survivors were busy with the wall-construction operations.

Although everyone was concerned about the rescue operation outside, necessary tasks still needed to be done.

Especially Old Zhao and Old Lin, these two leaders, when seeing the weather improve, immediately held a mobilization meeting and led the team back to the site on the same day.

“Judging by the progress, Xiao Hu’s team should have started actions!” Old Zhao stood at the street entrance, evaluating the project progress while mixing cement with Old Lin.

Hearing this, Old Lin stopped his mud trowel work, took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, offered one to Old Zhao, and then replied, “Indeed! The weather has been nice these past days, and the ice and snow on the ground have almost completely melted; it’s time for action without any unexpected delays.”

“Well, I hope everything goes smoothly and nothing goes wrong!” With a look of worry, given the complex environment of the abandoned city, Old Zhao clearly had many concerns about the entire operation.

Then, just as Zhao and Lin were worrying about the team members, the crowd busy with the wall construction suddenly stirred up. Before Zhao and Lin could speak, Wen Quanxin shouted loudly, “The engine, the car engine, did everyone hear that!”

The flame just lit by Old Lin was extinguished as he casually stored the matchbox, then listened closely to the surroundings.

Sure enough, amidst indistinct sounds, he sensed some minor disturbances. Instinctively, he looked beside him at Old Zhao, only to find that the latter was also simultaneously gazing at him.

With eyes reflecting astonishment, Zhao Yunhai and Lin Junfu discarded the cigarettes in their hands and quickly stepped towards the construction site.

Upon arrival, Old Lin issued instructions: “Da Hu, Old Yue, you two stay at the entrance, Xiao Wen, Wu Chao, go back and bring the gear, Old Zhao, lead everyone inside to hide. Zhongyu, Xiao Luo, you wait in the car, ready for evacuation anytime! Shen Lian, let’s go out and discuss the situation.”

The directives were issued one after another. With long-term honing, Lin Junfu had evolved from a highway patrol officer to a team commander.

His on-the-spot deployment and coordination were now far beyond what previously could be hoped for.

“Old Lin, it’s better you stay at home, and I’ll go out with Xiao Shen!”

Everyone knows going out carries high risks; staying at home is relatively safer.

And Shen Lian specializes in reconnaissance, his going out is reasonable, and Old Zhao felt he lacked the qualification to replace him.

But Old Lin was different. He now served as the leader of the Earth Realm, though Old Zhao was as well, their areas of responsibility were somewhat different.

Typically, Xu, Zhao, and Lin are like the Survivor Squad’s iron triangle.

Through several actions, they indisputably became the decision-makers of the team.

This was not just due to their age, but the trio’s experience, composure, and other aspects placed them at the upper echelon among the survivors.

However, as the saying goes, a revolution has merit, Old Xu was undoubtedly the core of the team core. Although the Survivor Squad never held meetings to elect a leader,

it’s undeniable that Xu Renjie, with his position as a captain of the Sharp Blade Company and years of battle experience, has subtly become the de facto team leader.

As for Old Lin and Old Zhao, they each had their roles, Lin Junfu generally led military aspects, while Zhao Yunhai handled the household matters of the twenty-odd people.

It’s one of the foundations for the team’s long-term survival because if a team lacks proper organizational division, it becomes like a scattered heap of sand—though it seems numerous, it struggles to coalesce into a single force, ultimately fracturing into pieces, engaging in internal conflict and mutual destruction.

This has been evident throughout countless historical progressions, after all, power is something humanity has pursued since ancient times.

How could Lin Junfu not understand Old Zhao’s intentions, but was he the type to hide behind others and push risk onto them?

The answer was obviously no, if he were, he wouldn’t have possibly become the leader of the Earth Realm.

“No way! On military matters, I’m in charge; stop dawdling and quickly lead the people away!”

Leaving no room for negotiation, Old Lin firmly rejected Old Zhao’s kind offer.

In response, Old Zhao initially wanted to persuade him a little more, but considering the urgency of the current situation and Old Lin’s authority, Zhao Yunhai eventually abandoned the thought, waved everyone to retreat into the village office to hide.

“Let’s go! Xiao Shen, let’s head out and check the situation!” With a quick draw of the cleaver from his back, Old Lin charged the village.

Seeing this, Shen Lian quickly followed suit with his weapon in hand.

After exiting the village, the two hurried along the path until they leaped into the grassy area.

In the Earth Realm of the Survivor base, once someone ran to the grassy area, they basically became hidden; for someone to see them clearly, they’d need Sun Wukong’s fiery eyes.

Hiding within the grass, Lin and Shen had no fear of exposing their position.

Lin Junfu took out his daily carrying binoculars, raised them high and observed the distant road.

The road was currently empty and silent, with no zombies, no vehicles, but Lin Junfu knew it would soon be disrupted by the sounds he had distinctly overheard from the base; now they were becoming clearer.

Soon, within the lenses of Lin Junfu’s binoculars emerged the image of one vehicle, then a second.

Lin Junfu had just confirmed this when unexpectedly the hand-held radio hanging from his waist abruptly crackled.

“Zzzzz!”

Damn it!

Hearing the static noise from the radio, Lin Junfu instinctively wanted to turn off the radio.

Although hidden in the grass, combined with the noisy engine sounds, the radio’s static was insufficient to be heard by anyone;

but human instinct still made Old Lin extremely uneasy.

Yet neither Lin Junfu nor Shen Lian anticipated that the call on the radio that put them on high alert was not coming from the base.