Chapter 231: It Came Without Effort

On the FJ Land Cruiser driving north, Team Leader Zhang flipped through an old map of Qincheng, pointing to the yellowed pages: "From Haihe River to Beidong Village is… five kilometers. We've walked nearly four since leaving Xidaying. Just a little farther ahead is Beidong Village—watch your step!"

With that, he closed the aged book. The map, printed decades ago, clearly marked village locations and proved surprisingly useful beyond the city.

"Team Leader, are we really going to confront those people?"

Someone in the vehicle voiced the question, and the car slowed.

Team Leader Zhang frowned slightly. "Old Yan's always had it out for me. If we slack off, he'll file a report the moment we get back. We've got to at least pretend. Let's search nearby. But if we run into them, don't go for broke!"

Deep down, none of them wanted to meet the armed group led by Ma Changshou. It was just a top-down assignment—no personal gain, and no one wanted to risk their life.

The ten of them reached the fork in the road and found burn marks on the cement ground—clearly scorched by intense heat.

"The United Village cleared out the zombies really well," Tan Huajun said, holding a caliper to her chest, her face puzzled.

As they spoke, Zhang Su suddenly spotted two vehicles at the road leading into the town, slowly closing in—no drivers in the seats, obvious signs someone was pushing them from behind, clearly trying to block their path!

Zhao Dezhu swung his rifle to his chest, his cheerful expression vanishing, replaced by menace.

He wasn't afraid at all. In one swift motion, he pulled the rifle from his shoulder, disengaged the safety, and gripped it tightly, eyes gleaming with danger.

Several team members close to Team Leader Zhang were furious at Deputy Team Leader Yan's sarcastic tone, but dared not speak up due to his rank and combat strength—only casting cold, resentful glances elsewhere to vent their anger.

A young man in the squad crouched down, touching the re-solidified asphalt, his brow deeply furrowed.

He called out "Team Leader," but anyone could hear the disdain in his voice.

Chen Hanzhou's expression hardened. Since losing his arm, he rarely went on missions—never expected that this rare outing would land them on a hard opponent.

"What the hell burned to make this? Damn, it stretched all the way from up ahead… hmm?"

"I suspect it's the Qinglong Army!"

"Quick, drive the vehicles to block the road—we'll take cover in the shops on either side!"

A middle-aged man in the squad skilled in tracking pointed to a side path.

"Heh… we've been searching high and low—and now it's handed to us on a silver platter!"

Deputy Team Leader Yan crushed his cigarette against the wall and joined the others running into the shops.

"We'll head over to the nearby… hmm?"

The blackened asphalt was riddled with pits—large holes nested within smaller ones, dense and countless. The deep ones exposed the roadbed; the shallow ones were as deep as three fingers pressed together, stretching hundreds of meters.

"I saw it—don't shout!"

Just as Team Leader Zhang and Old Yan were clashing, a team member dramatically pointed far ahead: a massive RV was slowly turning around—clearly preparing to exit the village!

"Qinglong Army!"

"Damn, these bastards couldn't even wait a few days?"

"Someone's blocking us!"

The ferocious Deputy Team Leader spat out a phrase, one hand on his hip as he glared at Team Leader Zhang: "Team Leader, what's the plan? Speak up."

Deputy Team Leader Yan leaned against the soot-blackened wall, holding his micro-submachine gun, lit a cigarette, and said: "So how do we observe? Watch from here? Move closer? Or sneak into the village?"

"I thought we were going to fight—turns out it's just observation. You're the team leader, you decide. Observation it is."

"Damn, this would make a whole year's episode of 'Into the Unknown'—what the hell is going on! Hmph!"

This vigilance was Zhang Su's conclusion after analyzing the attack on the United Village—if Qingshan ever faced something similar, they wouldn't be left helpless without even decent weapons after a collapse!

"We didn't catch any zombies, but we got a pile of food, haha—and even picked up a few firelocks. Not bad!"

Zhao Dezhu, ever optimistic, played with the crude firelock using his injured arm as rehabilitation.

"Aren't you the one who loves fighting? Why don't you, Deputy Team Leader, give us a demonstration—sneak into the village and gather some intel?"

As they spoke, the FJ Land Cruiser's driver squinted ahead and said, "Hey, look—there's Beidong Village. But something's off about it…"

Tan Huajun remained calm, her usual composed demeanor intact. She gently secured the caliper on her back and took up her rifle.

"Damn, what kind of vehicles are those? Looks like decent off-roaders… can't tell!" Zhao Dezhu squinted ahead—the distance of two or three hundred meters was too far to make out details, only silhouettes visible.

Zhang Su picked up the Type 95 automatic rifle beside him, checked the magazine and safety. Others couldn't see clearly—he could: a sleek FJ Land Cruiser, plus a Type 3000 tank, and both looked clean. No ordinary faction could afford such gear!

The group walked down the narrow path. As the view opened up, they suddenly spotted an RV parked deep in the fields!

"Team Leader, RV! RV!"

Team Leader Zhang dropped his argument with the deputy and immediately ordered the team to prepare.

Everyone turned their gaze forward. As the vehicle drew closer, they finally saw clearly what was happening.

Team Leader Zhang wasn't one to be pushed around—he'd had enough of the sarcasm. "You want to play games? Fine."

"Heh," Deputy Team Leader Yan exhaled smoke and shook his head. "I like fighting, not suicide. If you want to go, you come with me—let the officers show the troops how it's done!"

Though they hadn't caught any zombies, Zhang Su had still accomplished something else: he'd hidden a bag of weapons in the abandoned cowshed of a deserted house—five Type 95 automatic rifles and a thousand rounds, just in case.

Zhang Su slammed on the brakes, stopping on the village's self-built road, his face grim.

Team Leader Zhang's eyes flickered with irritation, but he said nothing. After scanning the surroundings, he said: "According to Old Ma's info, that survivor group has over twenty people, all carrying rifles. I think we should observe first—engaging would be disadvantageous for us."

"Both team leaders, look—the vehicle's moving!"

In the United Village, inside the Mercedes RV, Zhang Su rubbed his head: "Damn. Overnight, all the zombies vanished—what the hell? Should've brought those two guys who lured them last night…"

The ground was covered in dust. As the vehicles approached, the wind kicked up a cloud of fine particles.

A short man pointed excitedly at the distance, shouting.

The group stepped out of the vehicles, staring in confusion at the pitted asphalt road ahead. It wasn't that the holes blocked passage—both vehicles could easily drive over them—but the bizarre situation was deeply puzzling.

"I'm not sure it's the Qinglong Army, but their gear's clearly good. No other roads available—let's meet them."

Deputy Team Leader Yan frowned, spat into one of the pits.

"These are burn pits—clearly the asphalt melted. But… what burned? Why no residue at all?"

Leaving Qingshan, Zhang Su drove straight to the United Village. The group had imagined all sorts of scenes—expected zombie-infested streets, a brutal battle. But when they arrived, they found only human remains and corpses that couldn't reanimate… and barely two dozen ordinary zombies.

"From the marks, something on fire must've come this way from… over there!"

Team Leader Zhang angrily slapped the man on the head.

Zhang Su brought Chen Hanzhou along today mainly because he'd been cozying up to Pei Lan lately—Zhang Su worried he'd grown soft from the warmth of romance.

"What's going on?"

"Heh, perfect timing—I'll send you all to meet the King of Hell!"

There were many ways out of the village, but only this one could accommodate the RV.

Don't know who I pissed off, but lately, little accounts keep showing up to insult me—so annoying…

(End of Chapter)