Yan Hao hoped she would send people to help search for ships along the coast to help them go to sea and find the headquarters base. But Chen Yajing stated that she had previously sent people at an unimaginable cost to repair local communication stations, yet had not received any official signals. Even if the base Yan Hao spoke of existed, the government had long abandoned the people.
She greatly admired these special forces soldiers and sincerely hoped they would stay, promising to do everything possible to lead all survivors through the disaster.
“Too naive,” Zhou Rong frowned. “This is a global disaster that must be overcome by all countries, even all of humanity. Does she think she’s the Virgin Mary?”
“That’s the strange part,” Yan Hao said. “Not only does she have this naive and stupid confidence, but the Alphas who manage the base also share it. This unified belief seems to be the cornerstone of her leadership in the base.”
“Are they running some kind of cult?” Zhou Rong asked.
“No signs of that so far.”
Zhou Rong nodded heavily.
The truck swayed over the mountain slope, with dust flying ahead, gradually revealing a vast base of buildings.
Electrified brick walls and iron nets stood tall under the sky, protecting humanity’s settlement in the apocalypse. Zombies wandered in small groups, dazed, gathering at the brick walls and moaning while hitting the iron nets.
“Did she try to use force to stop you from going to the South China Sea?” Zhou Rong asked again.
“No,” Yan Hao gave a bitter smile. “That’s the tricky part.”
Chen Yajing treated the special forces well, hosting them and properly settling the nearly seventy survivors they brought. When Yan Hao and others wandered around the base’s periphery, she turned a blind eye and did not stop them.
—Except for not cooperating in searching for ships to go to sea, all her actions were impeccable. Yan Hao almost thought she was a perfect civilian leader.
Feeling bad about freeloading and hoping to meet Zhou Rong, Yan Hao requested to join the guard team from Chen Yajing, helping them clear zombies and rescue civilians in the surrounding areas.
Chen Yajing readily agreed.
She called several of her own security team leaders, including one named Wan Biao, and asked them to treat Yan Hao with respect, especially to learn from the special forces.
“Oh, really?” Zhou Rong smiled, “It seems this Miss Chen really values you. So why does the guy named Wan look at you with such displeasure?”
Yan Hao coldly said: “I don’t know, captain. You’d better ask him yourself… don’t look at me like that! I know nothing, and I don’t want to know!”
Several guards rushed out of the base duty room, shooting the zombies outside the iron net clean and working together to open the gate.
The truck roared in, and the SUV followed in the rising dust, echoing Zhou Rong’s uncontrollable wild laughter.
Wan Biao jumped down from the truck, not even glancing at Yan Hao and the others, leading his subordinates directly into an office building ahead. Yan Hao signaled Si Nan not to mind and drove directly past the office building, where rows of collective dormitories stood a few hundred meters behind the management area.
Si Nan parked the car in front of the yard gate, and Zhou Rong slapped the horn, shouting arrogantly: “Everyone get out! See who’s here!”
The small courtyard’s interior decoration was actually quite good, with bright windows, clean furniture, three double-bedroom rooms, and a dining hall.
“The conditions are good, Miss Chen has been thoughtful,” Zhou Rong turned around inside and out, smiling and saying: “Soldiers actually don’t need such special treatment.”
Chen Yajing replied, “They have lost their original purpose. Now, they’re just a group of thieves masquerading as military.”
Zhou Rong’s expression grew serious as he listened attentively. “What’s their plan?” he inquired, his voice steady with focus.
Chen Yajing hesitated again, clearly weighing her words. “Their intention is to seize control over the resources we have. They believe that by pretending to be a legitimate military, they can take what they want without resistance.”
Zhou Rong nodded, understanding the implications of her statement. “So it’s a matter of time before they make their move, then,” he murmured, deep in thought.
“Yes,” Chen Yajing replied firmly. “We must prepare for that eventuality.”
Zhou Rong straightened up, his posture signaling a shift from casual conversation to the gravity of a looming crisis. “Then we need a strategy. What can we do to counteract their influence?”
“The first step is to strengthen our defenses and ensure that our people remain united,” she responded. “We cannot let fear or doubt weaken us.”
Zhou Rong agreed, feeling a resolute determination manifest within him. “Then let’s get to work.”
The original identity of our base was a large research institute directly under the G Military Region, so it has deep connections with the military. After the virus outbreak, I and some leaders within the research institute had disagreements about the resettlement of nearby disaster-affected populations. Although Chen Yajing did not directly state it, Zhou Rong could easily hear the subtext – the disagreement resulted in a violent mutiny. Chen Yajing did not mention the bloodshed and casualties during the mutiny, but the result was that those who disagreed with her left the research institute and established their own base at the other end of the peninsula. Compared to the well-equipped and resource-rich research institute, the new base was obviously very barren. The dissenters robbed urban areas and passing vehicles while also not giving up on counterattacking the original research institute. In recent weeks, the bloody conflicts between the two bases had become increasingly frequent, causing Chen Yajing great anxiety. Yan Hao’s joint operation with Wan Biao this time was to strike against the other side’s mid-route vehicle hijacking and protect this essential route to the research institute.
However, Wan Biao had always been disdainful of Yan Hao, often tripping him up, almost causing harm to the passing Zhou Rong and Si Nan.
Some of them did indeed once belong to the military region, but more of them are imposters who killed G Military Region soldiers, stole their uniforms and weapons to impersonate soldiers,” Chen Yajing sighed. “Wan Biao’s actions were indeed inappropriate. He attacked without distinguishing right from wrong and almost injured Captain Zhou. I must apologize to everyone…
“Oh, it’s fine. Yan Hao doesn’t mind,” Zhou Rong casually pulled Yan Hao over, saying easily: “Right, Yan Xiao Hao?” Yan Hao coldly snorted. Wan Biao, bruised and with bandages on his head, raised his eyebrows and was about to explode: “It was clearly that surnamed Yan who didn’t follow orders, and they even had guns—” “Rong—ge—!” The door slammed open. Guo Weixiang, with tears streaming, rolled in like an overly excited giant husky, pouncing and hugging Zhou Rong while wailing: “You’re alive! I knew you were alive! We’ve been searching everywhere for you, praying for you, thank goodness you’re alive wuwuwu…” Zhou Rong was caught off guard, covered in snot and tears, frantically grabbing Guo Weixiang’s collar to pull him away:
The backyard. It was a tranquil and peaceful place, filled with the sounds of happy chatter and laughter. Yan Hao hurriedly pulled Guo Weixiang to the backyard to chat and eat with Si Nan and Chun Cao. A moment later, a heart-rending scream came from the backyard:
“Si Xiao Nan! What did Rong-ge do to you? When did you two get together? Damn, why didn’t anyone wait for me?!”
Zhou Rong: “…”
An awkward silence filled the living room. After a while, Chen Yajing rubbed her temple.
