Chapter 406: Wangjiang Military Region

Wangjiang Military Region.

Military Headquarters Command Center, southwest side.

Densely packed, large numbers of Survivors crowded in the resettlement points demarcated by the Military Region.

The tents are crude; simple iron pots can be seen set up everywhere.

Armed soldiers patrolled in formation; occasional gunfire suppressed the crowd's clamor.

Inside the camp, soldiers in charge of food distribution scolded the chaotic crowd; women holding children, wrapped in coats, stood in line with small bowls.

"One spoon each! Workers repairing the city get an extra spoon according to their tickets!"

The iron spoon clanged against the big pot; the soldiers responsible for food distribution were utterly exhausted.

There were too many people; over two million had crowded into the Wangjiang Military Region.

Moreover, under orders from the capital, they continuously rescued Survivors and brought them back to the Military Region.

The Military Region's scope kept expanding, yet large numbers of Survivors could only live in makeshift tents.

If it weren't for the decent geographical location, as a Military Region site there would be hardly any towns nearby.

With so many people gathered, it had long attracted large numbers of Zombies to attack.

At the front of the line, a man wearing a coat, his belly protruding, a businessman-type, held up his large bowl, followed by several middle-aged people resembling staff.

He ingratiatingly approached the soldier, his right hand subtly removing the green water ghost from his wrist, then covertly tried to hand it to the soldier:

"Hey soldier, give me some extra... hehe... some extra."

"I'm the boss of Red Earth Group; the finance minister of Wangjiang City used to be my good friend, we often ate together..."

"Pa!"

Impatiently, the soldier knocked the man's secretly slipped watch to the ground, then shoved him aside:

"Even knowing the Heavenly King Laozi is useless!"

Too lazy to bother with the merchant's bewildered gaze, he simply banged the iron pot and called out to the next person.

The Survivors queued behind hurried forward; many showed looks of disdain.

Another clueless guy.

Looks like he was just brought back by the rescue team.

Among the line, a man in a black coat sighed and helped up the dazed merchant.

"Zhang Fucheng?"

The merchant, hearing the voice, looked over and scrutinized the coat-clad man, his eyes widening:

"Director Huang?!"

"Why are you here too?"

The black-coated man before him had stubble and sunken eyes, looking like a street vendor.

The merchant recognized him; he was clearly the Director of the Forestry Bureau, though not a real power-holder, he handled many projects.

The coat-clad man gave a light sigh, pulling the merchant up:

"Why can't I be here?"

With a bitter smile, he pointed at a few people in the line and spoke softly:

"Not just me—do you see that lame guy? He's from the Bureau of Industry and Commerce; behind him, the one holding the broken bowl, you should know him."

"From the Tax Bureau."

As the man introduced them one by one, the merchant stood there dumbfounded, unable to speak for a moment.

Until he spotted a hunchbacked man at the end of the line, he couldn't help muttering:

"Excessive... too excessive!"

"They treat Secretary Liu like this?!"

The hunchbacked man at the end of the line is clearly the top official of Wangjiang City.

Before the Apocalypse, although his Red Earth Group had assets over ten billion, he rarely had the chance to meet officials of this rank.

But now, how could the entire bureaucratic system of Wangjiang have fallen to such a state?

He watched helplessly as the bureau-level cadre who once gave a speech before tens of thousands of employees at his lavish invitation now shoved cold porridge into his mouth with his hands, feeling his worldview shatter.

"Quite surprising?"

The coat-clad man glanced at the merchant and couldn't help sighing again:

"Nothing surprising about it."

"We bunch can't shoulder heavy loads or lift things, and we have no skills."

"With military and civil affairs separated, it's already not bad that they're willing to give us a bite to eat..."

The merchant's heart jolted, and he couldn't help whispering:

"Director Huang, you're a proper official! No matter what, you shouldn't be given this treatment!"

"Isn't this overturning heaven? How could the higher-ups allow this to happen?"

"Officials aren't officials, civilians aren't civilians—this is total chaos! These bastards! Too excessive!"

"Shh!"

Director Huang grabbed the merchant's sleeve, instinctively glancing at the alert soldiers.

Seeing no one noticing him, he then relaxed:

"Superiors? Where would any superiors come from?"

"At this point, whoever holds troops and Awakened Ones calls the shots."

"Even if you wanted to file a complaint, who would you complain to?"

"And furthermore..."

Minister Huang seemed to have a bellyful of words, he grabbed a wealthy merchant and walked to a corner, whispering furtively:

As far as I know, the Wangjiang Military Region has had a dispute with the higher-ups...

Originally our treatment wasn't like this, but about four weeks ago, when the Military Region brought a team back, several of our old comrades who still held positions were demoted...

I heard that other Military Regions still have military and civil affairs unified, only ours... the situation is not so good...

Wangjiang Headquarters.

Rescue? Rescue my ass!

Send the information and tell them! Wangjiang's forces aren't enough, we can't spare personnel! Demand that they go themselves!

Damn him!

The uniformed commander couldn't help but burst out with profanity, slamming a palm on the table, frightening everyone in the command room into silence.

After a moment, a slightly younger staff officer cautiously asked:

Commander Wang, are the higher-ups again ordering us to rescue someone?

Wang Meng glared at the staff officer in displeasure, wearily taking off his hat:

Exactly, this bunch of bastards wants us to rescue a mayor's family member again, and they say to immediately send a helicopter, the person is on the top floor of the building.

Rescue my balls!

Everyone in the command room was unsurprised, merely carrying on with their own tasks.

This kind of thing has happened many times.

Since the chat channel appeared, people often pull various connections to have the Wangjiang Military Region send troops for rescue.

At first Wang Meng could tolerate it; rescue then rescue, after all it's a life.

As long as there are spare troops, we just rescue them on the way back.

But later, the issued orders became increasingly excessive.

Even the vice minister's wife's dog requires using Awakened Ones to rescue!

Damn it, it's the Apocalypse now! The Wangjiang Military Region is every day on edge, fearing a mutant attack.

Those officials, with just a move of their lips, cause the Awakened Ones and troops below to suffer heavy casualties.

After realizing this couldn't be done, Wang Meng simply ignored it altogether.

If not for many messages coming from the capital, he would have cursed back long ago.

Sigh, if it weren't for considering the situation of the senior leaders, he would want to shut off communications.

After a long sigh, Wang Meng put his military cap back on, his face grim as he asked the logistics chief:

How much food reserve is left?

Also, have we heard from the recon squads sent out? Especially the Gao Yan squad.

The soldier who had been monitoring the radio pondered for a moment, and the logistics officer beside him answered first:

Commander Wang, our food reserves are running low.

Originally calculated to last two years of food, now it can at most support four months.

The capital's orders are too rigid; we've brought back too many survivors.

Even at this rate, we might not last three months.

Wang Meng nodded glumly, inevitably sighing in his heart.

The food shortage is not only due to too many survivors; more importantly, the capital demands that we focus our efforts on searching for Lin An.

Large numbers of personnel were dispatched; earlier, in order to obtain surveillance footage from Linjiang, we almost provoked a corpse tide riot.

No choice, there are orders from above, especially this kind of dead order...

He glanced at the communications officer who was simultaneously in charge of the radio and chat channel, about to speak.

Only to see the soldier who had been monitoring the radio's face light up with rich joy, he suddenly stood up:

Commander Wang!

The Gao Yan squad has sent back news! They have made contact with Lin An!!

What!?

Wang Meng's gloomy mood suddenly surged with excitement, his eyes filled with wild joy.