Chapter 173: Niuziquan Town

"You're all partners I've personally selected with my keen eyes—I trust none of you will slack off. Right now, it's everyone for all and all for everyone. I don't ask for extra work, but you must complete your assigned tasks. Doing more brings no immediate reward, but slacking off will be punished!"

Zhang Su knew this rule wasn't humane, but now wasn't the time for humanity.

"Don't worry, Brother Su, we'll do our best—this is all we have to do every day!"

"That's right—this is our home. If we don't work, who will?"

"I'm glad there's work to keep me busy—it proves I'm still alive and well..."

Having survived life-and-death struggles, everyone's mindset was remarkably stable.

As Zhang Su said, any problematic members were weeded out; those left were naturally diligent, and even when someone occasionally wanted to sneak a rest, others would urge and encourage them.

After the assignments were distributed, everyone immediately threw themselves into their tasks.

Zhang Su, without hesitation, became the leader of the supply-gathering team, leading Lu Yubo, Zhao Dezhu, and Pang Dankun as they drove off in the Prado and the van, leaving Tianma Island.

As they turned from the self-built road onto the highway, Zhang Su spotted a towering road sign in the distance and frowned slightly, then picked up the radio: "Hey, Lao Tan, gather five or six people, bring tools, and take down those roadside signs—perfect gate barriers!"

"These two excavators are amazing—can we bring them back?" Zhao Dezhu pointed to the excavators standing like door gods and asked.

Zhang Su's group didn't choose to raid Lianhe Village. Instead, they used the map to locate a place farther north called Niuziquan Town.

The four parked their vehicles a hundred or so meters outside the town. At their feet lay several freshly killed zombies. Beside the road was a restaurant ransacked clean, its windows plastered with posters of dumplings and buns. Across the street was an auto repair shop, now only a pool of black oil on the ground...

Between the two excavators' buckets hung dense layers of barbed wire, with over a dozen zombie corpses dangling from it—some long dead, others still twitching, making the wire sway slightly with faint scraping sounds.

In the distance, the two excavators sat parked on either side of the town's main street, their cab windows smashed, corpses hanging upside down from broken windows, treads caked with torn flesh and tissue. Rain washed away blood, but couldn't remove the human fragments jammed in the crevices.

The towering road sign read "Tianma Island," guiding survivors clearly—but it was far too conspicuous!

"Received, received."

"I can't steal this thing," Pang Dankun cracked a dumb joke.

"Let's be realistic—if we clear out this town, the supplies inside will keep us safe and comfortable for a whole year!"

The reward was tempting, but Zhao Dezhu could only laugh helplessly and wave his hand—he had no such skills.

"You'll see when we get there."

According to the map, Niuziquan Town was only about three kilometers from Tianma Island. Rural highways were well-developed, zombies couldn't destroy roads, and the sides were mostly farmland with few villages—so zombies were sparse and traffic conditions excellent.

Compared to the eerie horror of movie gateways, the two excavators at Niuziquan's entrance truly embodied visual terror.

"My god..."

"Uncle, aren't we going to Lianhe Village?"

Zhao Dezhu stared at the horrific scene in Niuziquan Town and couldn't help but sigh.

Occasionally a zombie leapt out from the fields, but it didn't hinder passage—the two vehicles soon reached their destination.

Looking further in, more zombies wandered the town's streets—not as dense as a horde, but still numerous, moving between shops and lingering in alleys.

Zhang Su spread his hands: "Looks like it's completely broken—can you fix it? If you can get it working, I'll credit you big time—you can smoke cigarettes freely from now on, deal?"

Soon, a reply crackled back over the radio.

Pang Dankun, sitting in the passenger seat, gazed at the unfamiliar scenery along the road and asked.

Zhang Su stared deeply into the depths of the town's streets. Others might not see clearly, but he could plainly see every shop at the street's end—rice, flour, oil, daily necessities, construction materials, furniture—all there.

The town was small, but truly lived up to the saying: "A sparrow may be small, but it has all its vital organs." Prices here were high, and goods were a bit low-end compared to city malls (not that I'm biased—I've shopped in nearby towns; many local products were unfamiliar, even some no-brand junk), but the variety was incredibly complete.

"Brother Su, this...," Lu Yubo scratched his head. "Unless we ignore ammo consumption and just spray everything, how are we supposed to handle so many zombies?"

"Is killing them the only way?"

Zhang Su sighed and rolled his eyes. This kid had been with him for nearly a month—how had he made no progress? Didn't he have any strategy at all?

"You're the dumbest! We can use the old trick—lure the zombies away, hehe!"

Zhao Dezhu smirked and shot back at Lu Yubo.

"No good!" Pang Dankun shook his head. "If we lure them away, what if another group comes and steals the supplies?"

As a professional thief, he raised a valid concern.

"Can't kill them, can't lure them—then we're stuck," Lu Yubo shrugged, reluctantly pulling out a cigarette and lighting it.

Zhang Su stared intently at the zombie-filled street and murmured: "We can advance step by step, clearing this place bit by bit. Such rich supplies? We can't possibly abandon them!"

"Step by step?"

"Oh right! That way we stay safe and don't have to worry about thieves—hey, Uncle, this plan's great!"

"But... how do we advance step by step? Any little noise pulls in a whole crowd of zombies."

Lu Yubo still couldn't grasp how Zhang Su's plan would work, puffing his cigarette, brow furrowed in thought.

Zhang Su put on gloves, picked up a steel rod from the roadside, and said: "Aren't these ready-made cover? Let's get started!"

Even the cleverest strategy requires hard work. Thousands of zombies were real, tangible threats. To simply haul away supplies under their noses was fantasy—only step-by-step clearing would work.

Clear one area, then haul away its supplies.

The group walked to the barbed wire, made a slight noise. Nearby zombies, like eager audience members, immediately sprang to life, leaping and bounding toward the wire, eyes blood-red, teeth bared.

"Thief, watch our backs. Dezhu, Yubo—attack!"

Plop. Plop.

Killing zombies behind the barbed wire was as easy as cutting vegetables. Even Pang Dankun, primarily on guard duty, didn't stand idle—he stabbed two zombies.

But before they could finish off the nearby zombies, more emerged from the shops lining the street, filling the wire's front with another dozen.

Fortunately, the group was battle-hardened. The brief fight posed no burden. Repeated stabs finally cleared the first wave of over thirty zombies. Putrid blood flowed down the wire onto the ground, spreading a foul, rotting stench.

They repeated the process—making noise to lure slightly farther zombies. With breaks in between, over half an hour passed, clearing about ten shop-lengths. The nearest zombies were now seventy or eighty meters away.

"Dezhu and I will load the goods. Yubo, Thief—keep watch here!"

Zhang Su tossed the steel rod he'd been using onto the vehicle and gave the orders.

Though over ten shops appeared cleared, only the outermost ones could be safely looted—the deeper ones were too risky.

Unfortunately, among those shops were a funeral goods store and a tableware rental shop. Only the small restaurant, surveillance equipment store, pharmacy, and a Xinri electric scooter dealership had anything truly valuable.

After an hour of work, nearing noon, they finally filled both vehicles. The pharmacy was nearly emptied—anything, useful or not, was taken. The restaurant had little of value—just some flour and seasonings; no meat, eggs, or vegetables.

The real haul was the surveillance equipment and the Xinri electric scooters.

According to Liu Tianji's plan, the base needed surveillance cameras. Zhang Su had worried he'd never find them outside Qincheng City—yet here they were, the very next day!

He hadn't understood rural conditions—villages now widely installed surveillance systems, and some shops had even opened in towns to serve them.

The scooters' batteries and motors were extremely useful, but due to limited transport capacity, they couldn't be loaded onto the vehicles—so Pang Dankun and Zhao Dezhu each rode one back...

Though the cold wind blew, both were delighted—they hadn't ridden electric scooters for ages!

The distance wasn't far, and the road was safe—until they reached the self-built road at Tianma Island's entrance, where three zombies blocked the way.

"Once we've cleared Niuziquan Town, we should sweep the nearby villages. These zombies—three today, five tomorrow—they won't kill you, but they're a constant nuisance."

Zhang Su stopped the car, drew his steel rod, and killed two zombies with one strike each. The third was dispatched by Zhao Dezhu, who had dismounted from his scooter.

(End of Chapter)