Chapter 191: Those Called by Name, Follow Me

"Su-ge, what do we do now? We can't find those bastards!"

Liu Tianji was one of the more peace-seeking members in the camp; even he now longed to resolve the North Tower Camp issue—this feeling of being watched by a venomous snake in the shadows was unbearable.

Zhang Su shook his head: "Don't rush. Their attack has been successfully repelled. To secure the outside, first stabilize the inside. We hold our ground, then deal with them later. If we charge out recklessly now, they'll lead us by the nose!"

After two consecutive clashes where the enemy seized the initiative, Zhang Su found the feeling terrible—but no matter how bad it was, he had to first solidify his defenses, wait for their opening, and strike with lethal precision.

"Come on, let's get to work! Focus on our own tasks. Don't tell anyone about this. Just say you found nothing—otherwise, those hotheads will explode."

Zhang Su patted Xiao Liu on the shoulder and smiled.

Liu Tianji chuckled—he knew exactly who Zhang Su meant.

When the two returned to the mountain path, everyone was hard at work clearing zombie corpses—even the Corgi, Lucky, wasn't idle. He knew spent shells were useful and was scavenging them everywhere, gathering up weapons someone had dropped. Ate little, worked a lot.

"Su-ge, any findings? Did those bastards from North Tower Camp do this?"

"My goodness." Zhao Dezhu, his broken arm dangling, was also helping out. He sighed at Jia Shiqin's words: "If fifty thousand zombies attacked the city, who could hold it?"

Lu Yubo dragged a zombie corpse onto the electric scooter's platform, his face filled with fury.

Lu Yubo saw Zhang Su walking from the camp and stood up to ask.

"Bo-ge, there are zombies everywhere around here—every village has thousands. Forget others, remember that village we passed before we came back? There were plenty there too."

"Cheers!"

Zhang Su didn't let everyone keep working in the dark, hungry. Not only did he stop them, he specifically ordered the kitchen crew to add extra dishes and hold a victory banquet to celebrate Tianmayu's repulsion of the first zombie wave!

Night slowly fell. Except for the two men on watch in the monitoring room, everyone gathered in the restaurant of Xiao Xingyun Guesthouse.

Zhang Su naturally shook his head and spread his hands: "I didn't notice anything unusual. Even if there was, we have no direct evidence."

Jia Shiqin added: "Yeah, around us there are four towns, over a hundred administrative villages alone. Not to mention more—fifty thousand zombies are definitely out there…"

Two large round tables were piled high with food—not gourmet, but in the apocalypse, it was lavish. Most importantly, there were two bottles of liquor, a first!

"You guys helped out a lot coming back—cheers!"

"Don't be a jinx, Zhu. Fifty thousand zombies attacking? Are you gonna abandon the city? What good would it do?" Zhang Su shook his head in disbelief, impressed by Zhao Dezhu's stubbornness.

"Hmph, I'm sure it's those bastards—why else would so many zombies suddenly appear?"

"Everyone!"

Hundreds of zombie corpses couldn't be cleared in a moment. By late afternoon, at least two or three hundred still lay uncollected along the mountain path.

Zhang Su deliberately didn't mention the zombies the four of them had killed upon returning, but everyone remembered their contribution. Hearing this made people feel deeply satisfied, as if truly acknowledged.

"Today, with fewer than twenty people, you successfully repelled an attack by over eight hundred zombies (preliminary count), zero deaths, a kill ratio of 1: 5. I dare say this record is legendary even by global standards! To all our incredible warriors—cheers!"

Whether they believed it or not, Zhang Su hadn't confirmed any link between the zombie horde and North Tower Camp. People's moods eased slightly.

Those working at the task felt dizzy at the number.

Qi Xiaoshuai thought Lu Yubo's words had a flaw.

Zhang Su raised his cup and said: "Today on the radio, I heard the Qincheng Survivors Alliance broadcast—they claimed they successfully repelled two zombie waves. They sounded mighty proud."

"Hehe, yeah, true—we don't have to hold ground forever. Right, right! If there are too many zombies, we just run. Hehe, good idea!"

"Cheers!"

Everyone raised their cups. No one claimed they couldn't drink—in the apocalypse, alcohol was a precious resource. A sip to relieve stress was rare. Except for the injured Pang Dankun, even Mo Qianlan poured herself half a cup—about two ounces.

Only Zhao Dezhu was miserable—he wanted to drink, but Yu Qing had taken his cup away, claiming his broken arm meant he couldn't drink. He could only grimace and suck his lips, finally gulping down a bottle of cola to soothe himself.

"Mr. Zhang, though we won today, our defenses suffered heavy losses. Only three or five barricades remain usable. We'll need to assign manpower soon to rebuild them."

Yu Wen put down his cup and immediately voiced his concern—he was in charge of this, so he cared deeply.

"The barricades played a huge role today. Old Yu, your invention deserves great credit. Keep developing it."

Zhang Su affirmed Yu Wen's contribution.

Yu Wen smiled modestly: "I just followed records from books. It's not my invention."

"Hey, hey, Su-ge, this victory banquet needs some entertainment! Just eating is boring—can't Sister Zheng show us her singing?"

Lu Yubo jumped in.

"Sing one! Sing one!"

"Sister Zheng, sing one!"

"Sister Zheng, sing one…"

Instantly, everyone joined in the clamor.

"You're the only one causing trouble!" Zhang Su pointed at Lu Yubo with a smile, then turned to Zheng Xinyu and Zhong Xiaoshan: "Who's willing to perform?"

On such a joyful occasion, the two women wouldn't dampen the mood. They exchanged glances, then Zhong Xiaoshan stood up: "Then I'll go first—don't laugh at me."

She'd been to KTV often before; singing was no problem.

Zhong Xiaoshan checked her phone's battery, found a popular pre-apocalypse internet song, opened the instrumental, and began to sing.

"A faint light in the deep sea, a tempting illusion. She thought she could grasp the foam called love. Human hearts are murky, dark as ink—how can you guess the ending? Why does brilliance leave you empty? Why do those who love me cage me? Why is waiting always futile…"

The beautiful melody, familiar lyrics and tune—amid today's spiritual and entertainment drought—earned constant applause and cheers.

Zhang Su, however, glanced oddly at Yu Wen: "Teacher Yu, isn't she sending me a message?"

"Hahaha." Yu Wen laughed. "Mr. Zhang, you're overthinking it. I think Miss Zhong's song is just describing our current world—brilliance leaves you empty, waiting is futile. Perfectly fitting."

After Zhong Xiaoshan, Zheng Xinyu sang a song with the same name as the guesthouse: "Little Fortune."

As a game streamer who occasionally sang on stream, and since this was her signature song, she performed it with great flair.

"Who stood silently through wind and rain, guarding the same spot? You're the fortune I most want to keep. We were once so close to love… that decision to fight the world for me…"

No instrumental—pure a cappella. Her voice closely matched the original, and she delivered the song flawlessly.

"Good! Beautiful!"

"So wonderful… too bad no new songs will ever be made again…"

As the song ended and applause rose, Zhang Su's waist-mounted walkie-talkie buzzed.

"Hello? Is this Brother Zhang?"

"Shh!" Zhang Su signaled silence, removed the walkie-talkie, and said: "It's me. What's up?"

"Brother Zhang, I've got something. Want to come over?"

It was Wang Xin. His tone was mysterious.

"Just say it. You think I'd withhold a thousand jin of grain from you?" Zhang Su frowned. At this hour, unless it was critical, only a fool would go out.

"Hehehe…" Wang Xin chuckled awkwardly. "One of our guys found something in a village. It was abandoned, but there are clear signs of recent human activity!"

Everyone at Tianmayu stared at Zhang Su. This was clearly vital news.

Seeing Wang Xin still being evasive, Zhang Su snapped: "Guizi, I keep my word. Even if I go now without verifying, I won't pay you grain. What's your point? Are you trying to trade me a dubious rumor for a thousand jin of grain?"

"No, no, Brother Zhang, you've misunderstood…"

Wang Xin, caught out, flushed with embarrassment, then blurted: "No need to verify—I'll tell you straight: North Tower Camp's bastards are sneaky. Why can't we find them? Because they changed their schedule—no movement during the day, only at 2 or 3 a. .! My guy spotted someone with a tiny flashlight sneaking around… uh, Xiang Zhuangzi. He recognized the figure instantly—it's Erhu from North Tower Camp!"

My brother spotted someone sneaking around at four in the morning with a small flashlight… uh, toward the Zhuangzi—my brother immediately recognized the figure's build: it was Erhu from Beitaizi Camp!

Zhang Su didn't care who Erhu was. He looked around—the faces of everyone were blank. He pressed the talk button: "Can you guide us?"

"Of course I'll guide you, Brother Zhang—but… about the fee?" Wang Xin grinned, haggling.

Zhang Su didn't hesitate: "Don't ask me for goods. When we crush North Tower Camp, you get ten percent of the spoils."

After a pause, Wang Xin replied: "Ten percent… isn't that a bit low?"

"You're just guiding. No other work. You get ten percent for free and still complain? Then maybe I should consider trading more with Xida Ying Village."

"No, no, Brother Zhang! Hehe—we'll send more men to escort you. How about twenty percent?"

As leader of the United Village, Wang Xin naturally sought benefits for his people.

"Don't make it complicated. Just you. I'll give you more." Zhang Su agreed.

In the dim firelight, Wang Xin's face lit up. He pressed: "When do we leave? Tomorrow?"

"You'll know when we leave. I'll come find you."

Zhang Su didn't reveal the exact time, then added: "No later than tomorrow afternoon."

Zhang Su did not tell the other party the exact time, then added: "No later than tomorrow afternoon."

"That's it…"

After ending the call, Zhang Su downed his entire glass of baijiu, then called out a list of names: "Those named, check your weapons. Depart in ten minutes!"

After ending the call, Zhang Su tilted back his head and drained the baijiu in his cup, then recited a list of names: "Everyone whose name I call, check your weapons—we depart in ten minutes!"

(End of Chapter)