Chapter 254: Heading South

Within Tianma Yu, many heard Zhang Su's voice and felt a slight heaviness in their chests, for everyone knew what Plan C meant.

"Understood, Mr. Zhang, be careful on the road! I'll gather the team and begin fortifying immediately!"

"Don't panic—we'll strike from within and without!"

The four simple words "strike from within and without" gave people immense confidence.

With that, Zhang Su tucked the radio into his bag, mounted his electric scooter, and rode toward the provincial road.

The Qinglong Battalion's convoy consisted of ten vehicles plus one motorcycle; without headlights, their numbers were hidden, but any close approach revealed considerable noise.

The electric scooter trailed far behind the convoy, unseen and unheard, like a ghost.

As Zhang Su's message spread through Tianma Yu, everyone rose from their warm beds—no one felt drowsy, for they had anticipated this scenario and were always ready for battle!

True warriors never fight unprepared!

Yu Wen, acting as camp commander in Zhang Su's stead, along with Tan Hua and Chen Hanzhou, led three separate teams to deploy according to plan—all arrangements assumed the Qinglong Battalion carried firearms.

The assault team, led by Chen Hanzhou, was primarily tasked with assisting the United Village's laborers in transporting grain sacks—but the grain sacks carried by the assault personnel concealed something else entirely!

"Gentlemen, hide your pistols well!"

Unless specifically searched, their weapons would remain undetected, allowing immediate conversion into effective combat power when needed.

"The convoy hasn't turned—it's still heading south!"

For this battle, a batch of partially hardened petrified skin had been urgently deployed; its bullet resistance might be reduced, but paired with the thalamus's healing effect, it should suffice to save a life.

Chen Hanzhou, Zhao De, Duan Wu, and Wang Xin formed the spearhead of the entire plan—capable of eliminating ten or eight enemies effortlessly under surprise conditions.

"Guo Dachao and Jia Shiqin, recheck the traps! Everyone else, ensure your bulletproof pads are correctly positioned!"

After roughly a minute and a half, Zheng Xinyu's voice came again through the radio.

These four excelled in attack power, agility, and speed—they were to deliver maximum damage at the first moment of explosion, then vanish immediately after creating chaos.

Hearing this, the tense nerves of the group eased slightly.

From every perspective, Tan Hua's group was the most easily overlooked.

Yu Wen knew this was only a brief respite—there was no room for slack.

In the surveillance room, Zheng Xinyu relayed the information to everyone at once; she wasn't avoiding combat—she was the mobile, flexible asset, using her innocuous appearance to deceive the enemy and deliver unexpected strikes.

As head of the negotiation team, Yu Wen had to approach the enemy up close and could not carry a rifle—only a pistol, and the same applied to the four behind him: Yu Qing, Yang Wenjie, Liu Tianji, and Wu Lue. The only difference was that he wore his pistol on his belt, while the others concealed theirs in their chests.

If the enemy had no prior preparation, it would become a triangular ambush—no escape possible.

These four were chosen for the negotiation team because they appeared approachable, giving off a sense of being easy to talk to.

"Attention, attention! The Qinglong Battalion convoy has appeared about five hundred meters north!"

Tan Hua led over a dozen personnel to gather on one side, dressed in tattered robes and loose sleeves, posing as the lowest-tier camp residents—the kind who were perpetually hungry and overworked, the downtrodden. In the dim shadows, their oversized clothing concealed their rifles perfectly.

Lu Yu had originally been assigned to the assault team, but due to concerns over his poor acting skills, he was reassigned to the tattered-robes group.

In the chaos, everyone's attention would likely focus on Chen Hanzhou and his team—allowing the tattered-robes group to swiftly join the fray and clear the battlefield with thunderous force, while the negotiation team would not sit idle—small pistols could still kill.

Unfortunately, there were major gaps in quantity—each person received only a piece the size of a basketball; following Zhong Xiaoshanyi's instructions, they were to affix them to the chest. As for bulletproof helmets, none had been manufactured in time—they could only pray not to be shot in the head.

On the second vehicle of the Qinglong Battalion convoy along the provincial road, a lean man sat in the back seat, smoking a cigarette, exhaling smoke as he gazed toward Tianma Yu: "What does the commander mean? Why must we go to the United Village first?"

"No idea. I think it's just theatrics…"

The driver, expressionless, stared fixedly at the taillights of the truck ahead, speaking without restraint.

"Chī… Lei Zi, your mouth has no lock—you're too blunt. If I report to Brother Sun that you're gossiping behind the deputy commander's back, won't he punish you?"

The burly man in the passenger seat laughed.

"The commander knows I'm straightforward—he won't blame me!"

The man called Lei Zi was confident.

"Being straightforward is a shield, but even that requires some thought, doesn't it?"

The burly passenger spoke without emotion.

"Old Hou, we're the same rank—do you think I'm one of your Team Five men?" Lei Zi clearly disliked Old Hou's tone.

"The commander's orders have deep reasoning. If we went straight to Kuan Zhuang, then Tianma Yu, then the United Village, filling our trucks along the way, then turned back—wouldn't that waste fuel?"

Lei Zi's lips twitched involuntarily: "Damn, is he this stingy? No wonder the deputy commander's always at odds with him."

"You're an idiot—the deputy commander thinks the same. Pulling supplies from south to north is logical. Dragging so much grain farther and farther away—if something goes wrong, headquarters won't have time to reinforce!"

Sun, the one who originally raised the question, followed along with Old Hou's logic.

"So don't label everything as factional. Some things are simply right or wrong," Old Hou sighed.

"Fine, fine—you're all smart, and I'm just an idiot. Alright. By the way, which side are you two backing—the commander or the deputy? I can tell they're really at odds this time."

Lei Zi shifted topics to camp politics.

"Factional infighting is the most annoying thing—I just want to survive. Whoever lets me live well, I support."

"That's nonsense. I advise you neutrals to pick a side already. Enough talk—let's all back the deputy commander. Hey, damn it—"

As he spoke, Lei Zi saw the lead truck's brake lights flash—he slammed on the brakes and swerved sideways to avoid a collision from the vehicles behind.

Sssssss.

A series of braking sounds erupted. To prevent emergency stops, the convoy had strict speed limits—so long as no one was distracted, everything was fine.

Far behind, Zhang Su's exceptional vision and familiarity with the terrain led him to anticipate the stop as they neared Beidong Town—the road was riddled with potholes, inevitably drawing attention. But he hadn't expected that, besides the lead vehicle, none of the others had their brake lights on!

Normally, even if headlights were forgotten, brake lights would remain active. Their absence meant deliberate sabotage—clearly, the Qinglong Battalion paid close attention to details.

He parked his scooter far away and instinctively ducked behind a tree, then heard voices coming from ahead.

"Niu San, what's going on?"

Lei Zi jumped out and saw the lead vehicle's driver stepping down.

"Captain, the road ahead is damaged—take a look!"

Niu San tightened his grip on his rifle and pointed ahead.

"What the hell? A meteorite strike?"

Others gathered, peering forward under the vehicle lights, astonished.

The asphalt road was pockmarked with large craters like bathtubs and small ones like watermelons—all nearly identical in depth, all bowl-shaped, an utterly bizarre road condition.

Aooouuu!

As the Qinglong Battalion members puzzled over the road's condition, three zombies burst from a nearby shop.

Without orders from the captains, the soldiers stepped forward, drew weapons, and stabbed.

But something odd happened.

Puff!

Two zombies were cut down, spears piercing their skulls—dead on impact. But the third zombie, despite being attacked, did not fall. Instead, it shoved back the Qinglong Battalion soldier.

"Damn, Captain! This zombie's like the Zero-Zero-Two from the Edge Team—so tough, can't pierce it!"

As the soldier spoke, he swung his steel spear hard—felt immense resistance, unlike any zombie he'd killed before. It felt less like flesh and more like solid wood!

Thud!

Another soldier kicked the zombie—was thrown back a step, cursing: "Damn, this zombie's messed up—its skin color's wrong!"

Taptaptap.

A burst of gunfire rang out—the man named Lei Zi's rifle smoked.

"Zero-Zero-Two? Zero-Zero-Eight? One magazine's enough to kill them all!"

The others saw Lei Zi reloading—those who knew him weren't surprised by his actions.

Team Five's captain, Old Hou, knelt beside the zombie and said: "This zombie's skin differs from ordinary ones—it's definitely a mutated variant. Damn it, Lei Zi, why rush? That's fifty points—wasted!"

"Huh? Really a variant? Shit, I lost my temper—sorry, haha. Who'd expect one out of three zombies to be a variant?"

Lei Zi waved it off, completely unconcerned.

(End of Chapter)