Chapter 157: This Matter Is Hard to Handle (Thanks to the Patronage of Sinian and Duishi)

At two in the afternoon, Zhang Su and Old Li's group, totaling twenty people, hid in a muddy wasteland northwest of the camp; behind them lay over a dozen zombie corpses, clearly showing even the wilderness was not safe.

Crouching beside a stack of straw, he watched from afar—the zombies pacing outside the fence were neither numerous nor scarce, roughly one hundred fifty to two hundred by estimate.

With some effort, we could eliminate them all, but it would take time and risk complications; better to lure them away.

"Bozi, Old Yu, move out!" Zhang Su issued the order via radio.

Soon, two vehicles appeared—one from the south, one from the north—reversing toward the zombies; as their horns blared sharply, the zombies outside the fence, as if hearing a battle call, sprinted after the vehicles.

"Since the heavy rain a few days ago, zombies have slightly increased in speed—don't rely on old tactics to deal with them!"

Wu Daqiang whispered from within the wilderness.

Zhang Su and the others nodded slightly; anyone who had survived the apocalypse was no fool—they weren't the only ones paying attention, every survivor was the same.

"Let me add one more thing: after the rain, every metric of the zombies has improved—not just speed."

Since the other side shared information, Zhang Su also revealed what they knew.

"Big Bing Wu, I must warn you—I know every soldier inside this base was once your comrade, but they're zombies now. If things go wrong, don't hesitate. Softness will kill you—and us. Understood?"

Old Li spoke softly to Wu Daqiang; every word reached Zhang Su's ears.

"Don't worry, Director Li. They're the monsters that killed my comrades—I won't hold back!" Wu Daqiang mentally reinforced himself.

"Director Li?" Zhang Su muttered inwardly. He could tell Old Li carried himself with authority, but what bureau he'd once led remained unknown—and now it didn't matter.

It proved one thing: those who once thrived, even in the apocalypse, could still become leaders. He had no doubt that once Old Li and his group got weapons, they'd expand their team.

Soon, the zombies outside the fence were lured far away by the two vehicles.

"Move out!"

"Go!"

Both team leaders gave the order simultaneously; twenty people trudged through the wet mud, swiftly advancing toward the fence—like a gang of thieves sneaking into a village to steal dogs…

The military base's fence wasn't very tall; its deterrent wasn't the fence itself, but the soldiers stationed within. Before the disaster, who in their right mind would climb over a military base fence to steal?

At about two and a half meters high, with anti-climb spikes, the total height was barely over three meters—no challenge for anyone present.

The most agile among them scaled the fence first; when they peered inside the base, they all froze.

"Officer Wu, this… has someone been here?"

Gazing at the empty base, Zhang Su was stunned. He was certain it wasn't because the two vehicles' horns had drawn out the zombies inside—the ground showed no signs of mass zombie activity at all.

Not since the rain! Wu Daqiang frowned, scanning around; only scattered zombies drifted far off. He scratched his head. "Don't know what happened!"

Regardless of why the base had no zombies, it was good news for everyone—they all scrambled over the fence and jumped inside.

"Follow me!"

Wu Daqiang led the way without hesitation, sprinting toward the armory. When he saw the warehouse door intact, his face lit up with excitement.

But the moment he yanked open the armory door, his expression collapsed.

The weapons that should have lined the shelves—like the zombies in the base—were gone. Only faint outlines of storage crates remained, telling newcomers something had once been here.

At that moment, Zhang Su's ears twitched. "Someone's here! Alert!"

The few who'd been following Zhang Su instantly went on combat alert, ducking behind cover and tensely watching the door. Old Li's group reacted quickly too; the newcomers who'd joined Zhang Su's team—like the programmer and Jia Shiqin—slowed slightly behind.

Scrape. Scrape. Scrape.

Footsteps hurried closer. Wu Daqiang peered out cautiously, puzzled, then exclaimed: "Xiao Liu? Gangzi?"

"Sergeant Wu!?"

The two newcomers clearly recognized Wu Daqiang and cried out in delight.

Those hiding in the armory all exhaled in relief—they knew these were soldiers from the base, and friends of Wu Daqiang. No threat.

But as the group slowly stepped out of the armory, the two soldiers were startled.

"Sergeant Wu, these… these people?"

"Some are my friends, others are… partners who came along to help. How about you two? I didn't see you that day."

Wu Daqiang frowned. Memories surged—he remembered every comrade who fell that day, clearly. But these two weren't among them.

Xiao Liu glanced around, saw no danger, and sighed. "The day before everything went bad, Gangzi and I fell during training. We didn't return to the barracks that night—we slept in the medical building. We survived."

Zhang Su couldn't help but marvel at the two soldiers' luck—they hadn't been infected, and had been isolated in a relatively safe place. No wonder they'd survived.

"When we realized what had happened outside, the monsters had already surrounded the medical building. We had no weapons. We heard artillery fire all around—we were desperate…"

Xiao Liu recalled that day, his face filled with pain.

"Sigh… don't bring it up. By the way, how did the weapons get moved? And where did all the monsters go?"

Wu Daqiang shook his head sadly, then remembered his purpose. "We moved the weapons ourselves—they're stored in the barracks now. We lured out the monsters, one by one."

Gangzi added, his face set with determination, radiating an air of "mission accomplished."

"Good job—you two are real soldiers!"

Wu Daqiang patted their shoulders warmly.

"Cough!"

Zhang Su cleared his throat. "Officer Wu, congrats on finding your comrades. Let's finish securing the weapons quickly, alright?"

He had no intention of staying in the base—it wasn't his preferred shelter.

"Weapons…"

Wu Daqiang hesitated. He hadn't expected any comrades to survive, let alone be right here in the base. He didn't know what to do, so he turned a pleading look toward Director Li.

Old Li understood. "Uh, Xiao Liu, Gangzi—I've got to ask: how many weapons do you have left? Focus on firearms and ammunition."

"Hey!" Zhao De said quickly. "Don't forget the Type 86 grenades—they're gold! Don't tell me the base has none. Every infantry brigade had them. And anti-tank rocket launchers!"

Old Li's lips twitched. He'd hoped to brush it off, but the man had seen right through him.

Xiao Liu and Gangzi said nothing, glancing skeptically at Wu Daqiang—they didn't recognize the man speaking, and wouldn't obey his orders.

Wu Daqiang nodded. "Tell us. Give us the general situation."

"We didn't count precisely. About eighty automatic rifles left. Type 86 grenades? Not many—maybe a hundred or so. Ammunition's plentiful—we didn't count, but at least fifty thousand rounds. Rocket launchers? We didn't see any."

Xiao Liu gave a rough inventory.

"Forget the anti-tank rocket launchers. And the grenades at the gate… gone," Wu Daqiang muttered.

Zhang Su remembered the exploded tank at the gate, and seeing Wu Daqiang's expression, he formed a grim suspicion…

Zhao De didn't care about that. Hearing there were still weapons, he grinned. "Ha! We're rich! We can take over sixty rifles, at least eighty grenades, forty thousand rounds!"

"What do you mean?"

Instantly, Xiao Liu and Gangzi grew tense. As soldiers, they were hypersensitive to weapons. The idea of someone demanding so many—this sparked fierce hostility.

"Calm down, everyone, calm down!"

Old Li waved his hands at Xiao Liu and Gangzi, then looked helplessly at Zhang Su. "Brother Zhang, you see the situation now—it's far beyond what we expected, right?"

Zhang Su wasn't surprised Old Li would haggle. Ever since the two soldiers appeared, he'd known this would happen—but he still played dumb.

"You say 'far beyond expectations'—you mean the weapon count? That's not true. Officer Wu originally said there were two hundred Type 95s. Now there are only eighty—half gone. It's far below expectations!"

"No, no, that's not what I meant!"

Old Li waved his hands. "I mean the difficulty of this mission. Look—this base is clean. We entered with zero danger. That credit belongs to Xiao Liu and Gangzi, doesn't it?"

"That's true."

Zhang Su couldn't deny it.

"Our original agreement assumed no survivors remained in the base, and weapons were unclaimed—so we divided them proportionally. But now the rightful owners are here. Step back: Gangzi and Xiao Liu are Wu's men. I think our share should increase!"

Old Li spoke seriously.

While Old Li negotiated with Zhang Su, Wu Daqiang was explaining the situation to Xiao Liu and Gangzi.

Zhang Su didn't argue. He nodded. "Fine. I'll drop my share by one-tenth—only take seventy percent. That good enough?"

"No."

Wu Daqiang shook his head vigorously. He'd never agreed to a 20-80 split before; even 30-70 felt too low. Now with two comrades suddenly appearing? Impossible.

"Exactly! We risked our lives gathering these weapons—we won't give you seventy percent!"

"Right! Absolutely not!"

Xiao Liu and Gangzi refused too. Even if they couldn't use so many guns, more weapons meant more security.

"There are plenty of weapons outside the gate—go find them yourselves!" Xiao Liu pointed toward the base entrance.

Zhao De snapped: "Bullshit! Those weapons are blown to hell, soaked in rain for days—if we try to fire one, it'll blow up and kill us!"

"Zhu, shut up! Director Li—this is between you and me. I'm only talking to you!"

Zhang Su wasn't intimidated by their three automatic rifles.

"This… this is really hard to handle, Brother Zhang."

Old Li's head throbbed.

(End of Chapter)