Chapter 171: Returning with a Full Load

When a continuous line of trucks appeared in the field of view, the player in charge of guarding the base hurriedly poked their head out.

All personnel, be on alert!

The Awakened Ones responsible for guarding one side of the highway have already been replaced with a new batch.

7 Awakened Ones paired with 140 ordinary people are distributed on the city wall.

Just to plan the position of the spirit-energy wall, a lot of the original earth wall has been torn down.

Under An Jing Tian's arrangement, the alertness is at least much stronger than before.

How come there are so many big trucks? And they all have Wangjiang license plates!!

In view are seven eight-wheel heavy trucks lined up in a straight line, neat and uniform, with seemingly many more vehicles following behind.

The speaking Awakened One is a special sound-system Awakened One; he hurriedly prepared to release his skill and shout, signaling the convoy to stop advancing.

An Jing Tian issued them a new alert regulation.

Unless it's a vehicle leaving Long'an Base.

All other incoming vehicle personnel must slow down and disembark outside one Chinese mile, then be approached by base guards for negotiation.

This, to the greatest extent possible, guarantees that no ill-intentioned party will launch a surprise attack.

After all, at this stage the Awakened Ones' abilities have a skill damage range of no more than a hundred meters.

Although doing this still leaves a major safety loophole, as the base was only built a day ago, we can only do this temporarily.

The sound-wave Awakened One clearly remembers that before Lin An departed yesterday afternoon, only four vehicles left, and there definitely were no such heavy trucks among them.

The trucks just look fully loaded with supplies, and we don't know where this convoy came from.

Convoy ahead! Immediately...

Before the voice bolstered by mental power could leave his mouth, an Awakened One beside him with Eagle Eye enhancement hastily grabbed him.

Don't shout! I saw our base's yellow bus!

The sound-wave Awakened One stood frozen in place; only when the convoy turned did he see the familiar bus body.

How come, in just one day, Lord Lin An has brought people back again??

This time he even brought back so many vehicles...

At the base gate, heads gathered together, everywhere filled with curious discussion.

Lord Lin An, how did you come back already? You just left yesterday afternoon!

Several students gathered together tiptoed.

Lin An, looking puzzled at those getting off and at An Jing Tian, was saying something.

What, you don't want the lord to come back?

He must have brought back supplies in advance.

His companion beside him gave him a look of astonishment, eyes continually scanning the top of the cargo truck covered with a waterproof tarp.

The crowd murmured among themselves, looking at the trucks bearing Wangjiang license plates with curiosity.

Coming back early... could it be something from the chat channel? Is there any important announcement to make? I see many people looking for us...

No matter how fast, it couldn't possibly be back in just one day; last time we sent out seven or eight squads, it took three or four days to bring back a little food...

I think he brought back cement, sand, and such, since we said we were going to rebuild the wall.

The engineering student looked certain, noticing that the truck tires were almost flattened.

If it's food, how much would there be? Most likely it's building materials.

It's possible; maybe we ran into survivors from some construction site. Perfect—hauling back materials to build the base.

You didn't see that the strangers getting off look like workers, did you?

Maybe it's just the lord bringing back a batch of nearby...

Whoa!

The tarp was lifted all at once, directly answering everyone's doubts.

As the tarp covering the tops of the sacks was pulled back, bag after bag of grain, oil, rice, and flour piled up into mountains, revealed before everyone's eyes.

Holy shit, it's not cement! It's food!

So much...! I feel it's enough for us to eat for a year..

My goodness, there are still lots of canned goods and frozen meat!

Damn! I also saw half a truckload of chocolate candy!

Originally still thinking that Lin An probably brought back cement and sand, the crowd was overjoyed.

They had thought that Lin An's team would return in a day, surely because something else had terminated the supply search.

After all, the several recent supply points are far away; clearing zombies and transporting supplies—none of it doesn't take time.

Unless Lin An can, upon arrival, instantly kill all zombies and mutants, then get out and start moving...

So they never imagined they'd actually haul back this much food.

Lin An paid no attention to the ecstatic crowd.

In the apocalypse, there really is nothing more exciting than seeing a whole truckload of food.

The academy's food reserves were never much to begin with.

If it weren't for him arriving and taking out the military compressed rations and canned goods from his ring, the group would have started going hungry from the day before yesterday.

The nearby locations for scavenging supplies have already been emptied out, while other places are occupied by mutants.

It's no wonder these students are doubtful whether he brought back supplies.

After all, in their fixed notion, those nearby explored malls and granaries are filled with large numbers of zombies and mutants.

In their view, even if he were incredibly strong, he'd still have to slowly clear the zombies.

Even this time when they set out, the original plan hadn't considered going to the granary to transport food.

After all, with unknown mutants present, the base's originally planned routes still go to several places that, although far, are better for scouting the situation.

It's better to waste a little time than to risk an accident and end up with dead people.

But Lin An didn't want to waste time, so he headed straight to the most dangerous granary as the second point.

Besides, getting back to the point.

If he hadn't exchanged for the sword sheath in advance, he would have gained the effect of sword aura.

The rat king in the granary is indeed quite troublesome.

Compared to the sandworms' strength, the aggregated rat king is not weak at all.

Without sword aura to instantly kill the rat king, casualties among some people are inevitable.

Lin An glanced at the dense crowd of trainees and signaled Gao Tian to deliver the speech as he had instructed.

Gao Tian nodded, then leapt onto the vehicle roof and loudly announced:

"Lord Lin An said! Starting today, everyone's food rations are doubled!"

"Tonight we'll hold a bonfire party on the training field! Food will be freely supplied! Celebrate the success of this operation!"

"Moreover, Lord Lin An also said that after one month, everyone can freely issue missing-person notices in the name of the base!"

"As long as they are immediate family or no more than four people, they can unconditionally join our base!"

The second piece of news announced by Gao Tian was known only to those on the vehicle; the survivors inside the base were unaware.

Considering that many people dare not speak in the chat channel under the threat of deadly pressure, Lin An still planned to inform everyone directly to avoid trouble.

Not only were the trainees looking for relatives, but many people actually also wanted to show off in the chat channel.

Everyone worldwide is looking for Long'an Base, and the channel is filled with pleas for help or tales of suffering.

By contrast, Long'an Base has no worries about safety, and with ample food, it gives them a sense of superiority that arises naturally.

"Lin Dui, I see the way these base people look at you—your eyes are practically sparkling."

Zhang Tie activated his bear transformation, standing on the vehicle roof and tossing down sacks of food as fast as a cargo machine.

"It feels like they've forgotten... that you were still killing people yesterday..."

"Looking at your eyes is like looking at one's own father..."

,

While throwing, the black bear even winked at Lin An, gesturing toward the female trainee who kept glancing sideways at him.

The crowd swarmed like ants, enthusiastically helping to move the food; many people, when looking at Lin An, felt less fear and instead an inexplicable gratitude.

"It's quite normal, combining kindness with authority."

Lin An calmly replied over the team channel:

"When fear and dread reach a certain point, they become habit."

"They will naturally accept all of this."

"Just like the Nazi forces during World War II."

"At this point, as long as I can bring back food and grant some favors,"

"they will naturally form a strong contrast in their hearts, which is actually better than continually appeasing them."

"Kindness and goodness need to be shown through contrast."

After Lin An finished his explanation calmly, he brought Gao Tian and Jing Tian back to the base's core.

Leaving Zhang Tie here to watch is enough.

This method of playing with people's hearts is not particularly clever.

Various countries' military organizations, or major powers when cultivating dead warriors, will use this method.

Behind them, two squad members exchanged a glance after hearing his words, thoughtful.