Chapter 175: Each to Their Own Duty

"Fuck, I'd rather face a zombie swarm once a month than deal with three or five of them every damn day—they won't kill you but they'll drive you nuts!"

Zhao De wiped the grime off his cleaver with a disgusted flick.

His mindset was like preferring to undergo surgery once a month rather than getting an IV drip every day.

"No way!" Zhang Su shook his head with an exaggerated expression: "This gentler approach is better..."

Recalling the few zombie swarms he'd encountered, the oppressive weight still clung to his heart—sometimes prolonged suffering wasn't worse than sudden agony; the sudden kind was just too intense to bear.

The group returned to the safe camp, and everyone rushed out to help inventory supplies, filled with a sense of happiness that felt like a Lunar New Year shopping spree.

"No way, surveillance cameras?"

Liu Tianji was ecstatic at the complete surveillance equipment—more excited than an old pervert spotting Banana Weekly.

"It's all up to you now!" Zhang Su stood aside smoking; the inventory work didn't require the search team's effort.

"Boss Zhang, if we're lucky, two days; if not, three at most—we'll need a new position, haha!"

Zhang Ya, hands behind her back, smiled: "Finished up? Come see if you need any help. Wang Xin, can you see outside from up there?"

"Surveillance operator, right?" Zhang Su chuckled. "Right now we need three people on watch duty; later, we can assign two per shift to monitor the cameras—freeing up one laborer. High-tech is fucking amazing!"

"Climb carefully up there!"

The next day, Liu Tianji immediately recruited Wang Xin to start researching optimal camera placements.

"Boss Zhang, you're saying that... I've got records on my computer—you've seen them!"

Everyone chuckled; the atmosphere was lively, utterly different from the weary days of traveling on the road—almost every face bore a smile.

Wu Lue shot a sidelong glance at Qi Xiaoshuai, determined to end workplace over-competition starting with himself!

"What about over there?" Zhang Ya pointed to another corner, then headed toward the stairs, clearly planning to work with Wang Xin on camera placement.

Liu Tianji muttered under his breath—he was a shrewd one. Seeing Zhang Ya clearly focusing on Wang Xin, he instantly understood, yet felt a pang of melancholy—he guessed his best friend was about to get a girlfriend.

Zhang Su bluntly exposed Wu Lue's scheming and told everyone: "Keep an eye on him. Fuck, he's the king of slacking off—always on night shift watching porn. He should be dragged off by cyber cops for re-education!"

Liu Tianji greeted Zhang Ya with a smile.

"You've always been lazy on the job—look at him! This isn't a company, no bloodsucking capitalists here—we're building our own home. Every extra effort brings you more happiness. Luezi, I can tell you're itching to slack off again!"

The two wandered across Tianma Island, climbing and scrambling, using their own eyes to simulate surveillance coverage, determined to leave no blind spots.

Wang Xin leaned out, gazing far into the distance, then smiled: "I can see the farmland clearly—unless we demolish those big rocks over there, we won't capture the highway."

Just as Wang Xin stood on the second-floor railing of Qingfeng Xiaozhu, peering out, a woman's voice suddenly came from beside him, startling both him and Liu Tianji.

Qi Xiaoshuai said: "Boss Zhang, it's not just freeing up one laborer—monitoring isn't tiring, you can do other stuff at the same time. Even after your shift, you can go water the greenhouse crops!"

Liu Tianji enthusiastically inventoried the surveillance equipment.

"Hey, Zhang Ya, weren't you watering vegetables in the greenhouse?"

"Fuck, this isn't fair!"

"I'm not saying this to be mean... Xiao Shuai, do all food delivery guys love overworking like this? You finish monitoring and you're done—but now, who the hell wants to be paired with you?"

"Get lost!"

"Hey, Wang, you guys watch this side—I'm going to scout the mountain path. Don't fall!"

As a good friend, Liu Tianji naturally wouldn't be a third wheel here.

"Yeah, yeah, got it!"

Wang Xin wasn't stupid—he saw the situation clearly. He felt a quiet thrill mixed with a touch of nervousness.

He was quiet and slightly socially anxious; he'd never had a girlfriend during his old job. He never expected a girl would take the initiative to get close to him in the apocalypse—couldn't be happier.

When men and women work together, as long as they focus, efficiency is great.

"Hey, Liu Ge, why are you alone? Where's Wang Ge?"

Depressed, Liu Tianji headed toward the mountain path and bumped into Wu Lue, who was collecting chicken and duck eggs.

Liu Tianji made a strange face and pointed toward Qingfeng Xiaozhu: "Your Wang Ge's over there working on it. I'm going to check the mountain path—we need a camera that can cover the provincial road, at least the self-built road."

Wu Lue nodded slyly, sidled up to Liu Tianji with his egg basket, and grinned mischievously: "Liu Ge, can you give me two tiny surveillance cameras? The smallest, pinhole ones—got any?"

Liu Tianji narrowed his eyes: "You've got ulterior motives. Spill it—trying to spy on someone?"

"No way, how could I... just kidding, haha, just kidding—I'm off, bye!"

Wu Lue sensed trouble and bolted.

"Bad influence..."

Liu Tianji stared at Wu Lue's retreating back, utterly speechless—he didn't need to guess; that kind of hidden camera would either go in the toilet or the bathroom!

Weng, weng, weng.

Near the entrance to the mountain stream beside the homestay area, Yu Wen, Jia Shiqin, and others were chopping down trees—selecting ones at least as thick as a bowl's mouth. With poor tools, they could only use axes and saws.

Though laborious, all of them were skilled with their hands—this task posed no real challenge.

"Good Luck, do you want fish?"

Zheng Xinyu squatted by the fish pond with her puppy, beside her sat a bucket of fish feed. Watching the plump fish glide through the water, it was a quiet, peaceful scene.

The group had found some fish feed in the homestay, and Zhao De had personally mixed it with other crops. After tossing the bucket in, the fish gobbled it up enthusiastically.

Woof!

Good Luck responded eagerly, pawing at the water, eyes bright as if to say: Eat? I'll catch one right now!

Zheng Xinyu gave a strange look and shook her head: "Nope—we wait till everyone eats together. Don't sneak fish—do you understand? If the Blackhearted One finds out, he'll beat you—on your butt!"

Woof...

Good Luck clearly knew who the Blackhearted One was. With a sigh, he lay down, watching the fish swim back and forth.

"Hey, by the way—if the temperature keeps dropping, will the pond freeze? That's a problem—I should ask Teacher Yu!"

She acted on impulse, grabbed the bucket, and ran toward the mountain stream, Good Luck trotting faithfully behind.

Zhong Xiao's work environment wasn't as pleasant as Zheng Xinyu's—she sat in a dim warehouse lit by two camping lamps, carefully counting medicine.

Food supplies were easy to tally, but countless medicine boxes were hard to categorize.

When they'd looted the pharmacy, they'd just dumped everything into cardboard boxes without sorting—many medicines could only be confirmed as present, but finding them later was a nightmare.

Fortunately, Zhong Xiao wasn't alone—Lu Lei was obedient and helpful, and Mo Qianlan would come over to lend a hand after finishing her own tasks.

After Zhang Su's group moved into Tianma Island, though their numbers were small, they clearly brought new vitality to the place.

Three days passed quickly. Day by day, the safe camp showed little change—but compared to when they first arrived, the entire camp had transformed significantly.

The most obvious change? Wires now crisscrossed between buildings...

Over these days, Liu Tianji, Wang Xin, and Zhang Ya—who came whenever she had free time—climbed up and down everywhere installing surveillance cameras and laying cables. Luckily, the cable they'd taken from Niuziquan Town was plentiful—they'd installed a full loop around the homestay area with sixteen cameras, and the monitoring room was set up in an unused guest room at Wangshan Homestay.

As they spent more time together, Wang Xin and Zhang Ya's relationship warmed gradually—their faces now clearly bore the smiles of lovers.

Liu Tianji didn't feel jealous, but he was a bit down, so he reported Wu Lue—claiming Wu had secretly asked for pinhole cameras with unknown intent. Wu Lue was then scolded harshly by all the female members.

Three days passed, and logs piled up in the parking lot. According to Yu Wen, they'd be used to build barricades. With no metal available, wood was the fallback—and luckily, for him, wood was more malleable!

The greenhouse garden was well-tended. Zhang Ya helped Wang Xin install surveillance; Wang Xin occasionally helped out in the vegetable shed.

Poultry care was going well, steadily supplying chicken and duck eggs as food supplements. The fish pond currently had only basic feeding—construction hadn't fully started yet, but it would be properly addressed later; fish were a vital food source.

Zhang Su's search team hadn't rested these days—every day they went to Niuziquan Town, steadily clearing zombies from the streets, bringing back plenty of supplies, and even discovered a critical batch of materials: cement and rebar.

In an uncleaned storefront, they found a large stockpile of rebar, bricks, and tiles—materials used for rural self-built homes. The quantity suggested many nearby villagers had purchased from this shop.

(End of Chapter)