Chapter 207: Strange Behavior

At dusk, as the sky darkened, Lu Yubo and Tan Hua returned to Tianma Island, but their vehicle had changed from a bread van to a Tiguan.

"Damn, little brother, you two are openly accepting bribes!"

Zhao Dezhu stared at the car in silence; it wasn't particularly luxurious, but it was far superior to a bread van—especially the air conditioning system.

"Hehe! I didn't take this trip to lose out—this is for the camp, you get it, Da Zhu."

Lu Yubo grinned.

"Su Ge, this is Wang Longzhong's report."

Tan Hua jumped out of the car and pulled a sheet from his pocket, handing it to Zhang Su as he approached.

"Su Ge, I think Wang Longzhong is being overly enthusiastic—why would he willingly make United Village our subordinate?"

Lu Yubo rubbed his head, confused.

"You won't understand if you only think from your own perspective—Wang Longzhong has to think for the whole village!"

"Su Ge, Ma Changshou is looking for you!"

Zhang Su patted both their shoulders and turned to head toward Xiao Xingyun Guesthouse.

"Wait, Old Ma, is your West Camp running a hospital? Why does everyone keep getting sick?"

As he spoke, Zhang Su walked aside with the radio: "Hello? Old Village Chief, what good news are you thinking of now?"

Lu Yubo's face lit up with delight.

Soon, Ma Changshou's voice came through: "Young Brother Zhang, I was hoping to trade some more medicine—do you still have any left?"

"Su Ge, there's something else I need to tell you…"

"Alright, as long as you're not deliberately going against us, it's fine. There's some food left for you in Xiao Xingyun Restaurant—rest up."

"So comfortable…" Tan Hua stretched out his arms, feeling the warmth, a happy smile on his face.

Zhang Su took the sheet, tucked it into his pocket, and added: "The appearance of the Green Dragon Corps has made our unofficial internal group more united. By the way, how are those troublemakers doing?"

Zhang Su asked with a faint smile; on their way here, only the injured had used medicine, plus Yu Qing's flu at the start—no one else had gotten sick, not even minor headaches or colds.

"Damn, don't even bring it up. A few little fry dared to boast—some guy challenged me to a fight, I went up and knocked him out with a few hits—he begged for mercy on the spot. Two others wanted to challenge Tan Da Jie to a shooting contest, with half of United Village watching—so embarrassing, all their big talk shattered, now they're all obedient!"

"Ma Changshou wants me? What's that old bastard up to now…"

"Ha, is this central heating?"

"A few elders in the village are elderly and have old ailments—forgive the inconvenience," Ma Changshou explained.

Tan Hua still had more to report when Zhang Su saw Zheng Xinyu rushing out of Xiao Xingyun with the radio, followed by Hao Yun.

Lu Yubo found his afternoon experience hilarious.

"After you left this afternoon, Old Yu and Da Zhu got the heating furnace going. One room at Wangshan Guesthouse had a burst pipe, but all other rooms are fine."

Pushing open the restaurant door, a faint warmth rushed over them, completely blocking out the cold.

Zhang Su frowned and said to Tan Hua: "Come on, Old Tan, let's talk in the restaurant."

Zheng Xinyu ran up and handed the radio to Zhang Su.

Zhang Su didn't dwell further: "I do have some medicine, but it depends on what you need. What are you offering in exchange this time, Old Village Chief?"

"Pigs and sheep, grain and vegetables—anything I have, anything you want, name it!"

"Oh?"

Hearing Ma Changshou's words, Zhang Su raised an eyebrow, waved to Zhong Xiaoshan, and said: "First, list the medicine names you need—I'll check the situation before deciding."

Immediately, Ma Changshou rattled off a list of about ten items; Zhong Xiaoshan recorded them all, then ended the call.

"So much medicine? At the previous exchange ratio, they'd empty West Camp's grain warehouse!"

Guo Dachao frowned.

Zhang Su smirked: "Pigs and sheep, grain and vegetables—they're too obvious. If they really decide to join the Green Dragon Corps and bring those things, they'll be confiscated the moment they step inside. Better to trade for something less conspicuous and harder to obtain—it holds more value!"

"Oh…" Zhao Dezhu suddenly understood: "They're preparing to flee!"

"Exactly. They've got forty or fifty survivors there. In this environment, relocating isn't easy—carrying too much is too risky. Hehe, now that I know what the old bastard's thinking, we can make a nice profit!"

Zhang Su grinned slyly, already imagining how to haggle with Ma Changshou—then suddenly remembered Tan Hua had unfinished words: "Old Tan, what were you saying earlier?"

"Uh… Tan Da Jie and I went to the abandoned quarry next to United Village—she thinks it's a hazard!"

Lu Yubo cut in.

Tan Hua nodded: "Right. There are too many zombies there. Unlike the ones wandering around the village, this quarry has a huge open space where they're packed tightly together—if a stampede happens, they could easily climb up the slope…"

"Look."

Lu Yubo pulled out his phone—he'd even taken several photos.

Zhang Su took the phone, examined the photos: the quarry pit matched Lu Yubo and Tan Hua's description exactly. He nodded slightly: "Your concern isn't unfounded—and… hmm?"

His superhuman vision spotted something odd in the photo. After zooming in repeatedly, he frowned: "It's blurry, but look— isn't that zombie eating something off the ground?"

Everyone stared at the phone. The image was too fuzzy to make out clearly—after intense squinting, they could only manage a nervous chuckle.

"Su Ge, this… the quality is completely ruined."

"Too much zoom. Try zooming out—nope, even worse when zoomed out…"

Everyone was stumped. Only Zhang Su, with his exceptional vision, could see clearly without degrading the image—there was definitely a zombie in the corner gnawing at something on the ground, but what, he couldn't tell.

He restored the photo to its original size and studied it carefully—this wasn't an isolated case. The strange motion was clearly eating, but what could there possibly be to eat in a quarry?

Just rock and peeling walls… or other zombies…

"Holy shit, Su Ge, you think zombies are eating each other?"

Lu Yubo recalled the scene and voiced a chilling thought.

Silence fell. Everyone exchanged uneasy glances.

"If zombies have been trapped in that quarry for so long, who knows what kind of mutations they've developed…"

Zhang Su frowned.

"Cannibalism happens among animals—maybe zombies have that instinct too. Either way, the quarry hazard in United Village must be dealt with."

Yu Wen stared at the densely packed zombies in the quarry pit, his scalp prickling.

Zhang Su nodded, not denying it—among all the villages he'd seen, this quarry had the densest concentration of zombies; who knew what trouble it might cause?

"It was easy to dump them down there, but killing them now won't be. Close range with melee weapons is exhausting, luring them up is hard, using guns wastes too many bullets—damn…"

Wang Xin squinted at the photo, then had a sudden idea: "What if we burn it? Burn it for a day—total annihilation!"

"Hehe…" Lu Yubo chuckled dryly: "You forgot how that shark-arm zombie reacted when it caught fire. The slope isn't that steep—if the zombies, driven mad by the flames, charge up, it'll be chaos!"

No one understood the pressure like Lu Yubo—he'd been the primary target of the flaming zombie, and the oppression had been overwhelming.

Everyone imagined the scene: thousands of flaming zombies charging en masse. Just thinking about it sent chills down their spines.

"Wait… I'm supposed to be studying United Village's resources and population—how did I end up worrying about zombies in the quarry? Two months have passed already; a few more days won't matter. Once United Village relocates, we can set up a delayed ignition device and burn it easily! Let's go, everyone—go about your business. You've all worked hard today."

Saying that, Zhang Su rose and left the restaurant, returning to his bedroom to quietly contemplate the future after the merger.

Until industry recovers, population equals productivity—but how to utilize, allocate, and manage it will be a challenge. He needed to plan each detail carefully.

He worked until past ten at night, finally lying down on his bed under repeated urging, enjoying a proper rest.

The next day, Zhong Xiaoshan had gathered all the medicine Ma Changshou requested—except for one high-end imported anticoagulant, everything else was available.

Zhang Su looked at the large bag of medicine, took only about a third of it, and decided not to go to West Camp today. To get a good deal, he needed to hold the initiative—make the other side anxious. That was one way.

"Su Ge! Su Ge!"

Just as Zhang Su was about to lead the team to the truck for more supplies, Lü Leiyang ran up and stopped him.

"Hmm? What is it?"

Zhang Su looked at the slightly awkward, effeminate man—he'd long since given up trying to change him. As long as he worked, killed zombies well, and didn't cause trouble, being feminine was fine…

"Uh… I noticed everyone's hair is really long. When you go out, keep an eye out for hair clippers—I'll give everyone a haircut."

Lü Leiyang mimed scissors with his fingers, smiling warmly.

Setting aside his effeminacy, Lü Leiyang's smile was genuinely healing—a rare, sunlit expression in the camp. Zhang Su hadn't seen such a smile since the apocalypse.

"Really that long?"

Zhang Su sighed, running his fingers through his hair—it had gone from Chiwood Gangxian to Liu Chuanfeng. It was definitely long.

"Alright. There was a barbershop in Ni Quanzi Town—we never went in back then, haha. I'll bring some back!"

Because of Lü Leiyang's suggestion, Zhang Su changed their route and headed back to Ni Quanzi Town to scavenge—he believed no one in this area had the energy to haul supplies from Zhuangzi now.

(End of Chapter)