“Let’s go, we’re heading out to load supplies. Give it some time to recharge, we’ll look again when we’re back!”

The experiment required a waiting period, so there was no rush. Zhang Su and his group drove away from Celestial Horse Island.

However, just as the two vehicles slowly headed north, a scruffy young boy suddenly emerged from the ditch by the street. His face was a mess, looking filthy and peculiar as he watched the cars turn into mere dots, then glanced in the direction of Celestial Horse Island.

“City folks are so deceitful. They fooled us all and made me give the wrong information…”

The scruffy boy’s expression was extremely unpleasant. He rubbed his face, looked around, and then started walking toward Celestial Horse Island.

“Sister Xiaoya, is there another keyboard? The enter key on this one isn’t working…”

In the monitoring room, Pei Lan was tapping on an unresponsive keyboard, switching the surveillance feed.

Zhang Ya had just shifted her gaze away from the screen when she suddenly noticed a figure in her field of vision and frowned, “Don’t move, don’t move, check surveillance number five from earlier! Look, someone’s coming!”

Pei Lan looked at the screen Zhang Ya pointed out and immediately picked up the walkie-talkie, saying, “Hello, hello, there’s someone at the foot of the mountain, heading our way. Someone’s heading our way, one person, one person!”

“Hey, kid, where did you come from? Someone occupies this place, don’t wander around, go back quickly!”

The mountain path was piled with red bricks, cement, and steel bars. A group was enthusiastically building a wall. Upon receiving the message, Wang Xin stopped what he was doing, held a rifle, stood in the middle of the path, and signaled the approaching person to leave quickly.

“Huh? When did people start living here? I came from the village over there…”

The boy first sized up the man blocking the way, then craned his neck to peek into the concrete-brick wall, giving perfunctory answers.

“Hey, hey, hey, don’t you have ears? I said there are people here, and you’re still going in? Go back, go back to where you came from!”

Wang Xin frowned impatiently.

“Why are you so fierce? Just looking won’t kill you…”

The boy glanced at Wang Xin, then looked at the people working before reluctantly leaving the mountain path, turning back every few steps.

“Where did this brat come from?”

Jia Shiqin, who was working, saw Wang Xin return to the wall and resume working, then asked.

“Who knows…”

Wang Xin shrugged cluelessly.

“Should we tie him up and wait for Brother Su to question him when he returns?” Jia Shiqin wiped the sweat off his forehead and cautiously asked.

Wang Xin frowned, thought for a moment, and put down his work again, saying, “I’ll go get him back!”

With that, he headed down the mountain path.

Five minutes later, everyone saw Wang Xin walk back with a peculiar expression…

“Damn, the little brat runs fast, couldn’t see him anymore!”

“The kid didn’t do anything outrageous, shouldn’t be much of a threat.”

“But he knows our location, that’s a problem!”

“If they dare to rob us, we’ll show them what we’re made of!”

“Better not to stir up trouble.”

The camp was relatively well-armed, but some still hoped for peace.

Soon it was noon, and the two vehicles that went out to gather supplies returned to Celestial Horse Island.

During lunch, the morning’s events naturally came up in conversation.

“A boy wandered into the camp?”

As Zhang Su was picking up some food, he keenly noticed something amiss, put down his chopsticks, and said, “What kind of boy? Where did he come from?”

“You guys had just left when I saw a boy coming from the main road on the monitors. He seemed to be coming from the south, but I couldn’t see clearly as the surveillance on the main road was too blurry.”

Zhang Ya explained.

“What did the boy look like?” Zhang Su put down his bowl and chopsticks, stood up, and said, “Forget it, let’s go, take me to look at the surveillance!”

Those who went out with Zhang Su to collect supplies were sensitive to the mention of boys, so they followed Zhang Su and Zhang Ya to the monitoring room.

It was Liu Tianji and Wang Xin on duty at that time. They operated the surveillance software very proficiently and quickly pulled up the surveillance footage of the mountain path.

“Damn!”

When Zhang Su saw the boy’s dirty face, he couldn’t help but curse.

“Brother Su, do you know this person…?”

Wang Xin tentatively asked.

“Damn, that brat is from the same village as those who attacked Zhuzi’s group. He followed our car before, and I led him to United Village. I can’t believe he found his way here!”

Zhang Su frowned at the boy’s sneaky appearance on the surveillance, feeling a surge of anger.

“Brother Su, we should just take him out. Damn, in times like these, not even fifteen or sixteen-year-olds, not even four or five-year-olds can be spared!”

Lu Yubo said harshly.

He had no compassion in his heart; anyone he felt threatened by would be killed without hesitation, that was his principle of action.

“Bozai, killing everyone in sight makes you a zombie…”

Zhang Su’s principles differed from Lu Yubo’s. After leaving the city, he was more inclined to strengthen his team. If he couldn’t recruit loyal partners, forming alliances was still beneficial, even if it was just for mutual exchange of interests.

He didn’t care about conflicts when first meeting someone. Different positions would inevitably lead to conflict, and he tried to resolve it through civilized means.

For example, in West Camp Village or United Village, he had the capacity to annihilate them entirely at first, but he chose not to.

The same applied to those two troublemakers. Even though Zhang Su didn’t know that they were affiliated with Beita Camp, which had attacked Zhao Dezhu and the others, he still approached with the intention of establishing a connection.

“Ah…” Wang Xin felt embarrassed, awkwardly saying, “If I’d known, I would have detained him immediately. Brother Su, I’m… sorry.”

“He must have spotted our vehicle and then followed the trail up the mountain, Brother Su. Should we strike first?” Qi Xiaoshuai’s eyes were filled with anxiety.

The place they lived in had been exposed, and it was a source of insecurity.

Zhang Su exhaled deeply, saying, “This troublemaker is definitely a problem. Let’s eat, then head to Beita Camp this afternoon, we can’t wait for the danger to find us!”

Since the opponent had come knocking on their door, Zhang Su concluded that the people from Beita Camp didn’t intend to let the past go. In that case, since their conflict was initiated by Beita Camp, he certainly wouldn’t back down like a coward!

“Okay!”

“Do it…”

“They hurt my brother Zhuzi, and now they dare to come to our door, we’ll kill them!” Lu Yubo’s face was filled with ferocity.

Once finished with their meal, Zhang Su called on Zheng Xinyu, Lu Yubo, Pang Dakun, Tan Huajun, and Qi Xiaoshuai to move out together. Whether it was engaging in gunfire with others or killing zombies, the combined combat power of these six was impressive.

“Damn it, big brother, my leg is healed now, why won’t you…ugh…”

Zhao Dezhu was extremely annoyed. He wanted to go too, but Zhang Su wouldn’t take him. He wanted to argue, but when he saw the rare icy look in Zhang Su’s eyes, he swallowed the rest of his sentence.

“Everyone gets five magazines, check your gear!”

Zhang Su stood beside the car, giving stern orders.

Everyone knew what Zhang Su and his team were going out to do, their expressions were serious.

Fighting zombies was manageable as long as the plan was right. But clashing with other survivor forces, that was unpredictable.

Although everyone had considerable confidence in Zhang Su and his team, surviving in this damn apocalypse required some real skill.

Being confident but not arrogant was the fundamental principle.

“Mr. Zhang, be wary of their cunning ways,” Yuwen warned with great concern. He wanted to go with them, but being an old man, he knew he was better suited for fighting zombies than people.

“Brother Su, Xinyu, be careful, everyone stay safe.”

Zhong Xiaoshan stepped forward and tightened Zhang Su’s gun belt with a worried expression.

The better life got, the less they wanted to have conflicts, but sometimes trouble found them regardless.

“Don’t worry, we’ll be fine! Just focus on your tasks here and make sure the camp’s defenses don’t slack, got it?”

Zhang Su sat in the car, giving a final word of advice.

Everyone nodded, watching the Prado and the van slowly leave the hostel area.

Yuwen and Yu Qing moved the roadblock away at the gate for the cars.

“Brother Su, be careful!”

As the car passed the gate, Yu Qing addressed Zhang Su in the driver’s seat in a low voice.

Zhang Su looked at Yu Qing. In the past, she would have surely tried to dissuade him, talking about putting down weapons, ending feuds, and such.

This time was different; her eyes were cold and determined.

“Don’t worry, take good care of my brother Zhuzi.”

Zhang Su flashed a smile at Yu Qing.

As the car drove away, Qi Xiaoshuai in the same car looked at the rearview mirror and said, “Brother Su, Teacher Xiaoyu has really changed… If it weren’t for meeting you, she wouldn’t have survived.”

“Everyone has their beliefs. She insisted on hers but didn’t hold back the team. Last time in Beidong Town, when she had to kill to make a statement, she did it, proving she’s learned about the way the world is now.”

Not everyone can kill without blinking; the process of change varies.”

As the car descended the mountain, Zheng Xinyu suddenly asked, “Hey, Brother Su, do you know the way to Beita Camp?”

“How would I know? But someone does. We’ll just find a guide.”

Zhang Su lit a cigarette naturally and made a turn to the south. He roughly knew the direction but finding a precise location was better.

“Brother Su, Brother Su, where are we heading?”

Soon, Lu Yubo from the car behind inquired.

“We’re heading to United Village to find someone to lead the way!”

After Zhang Su answered, he hit the gas pedal to increase the speed, quickly reaching Beidong Town.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep