Chapter 318: Firepower Is Justice

"Some people are off."

Zhang Su stepped out of the room and heard Zheng Xinyu's voice from beside him—he had already noticed this guy sneaking over and eavesdropping outside the door, but he didn't care.

"Pfft, you think I'm interested in little girls?"

Zhang Su smirked dismissively; his ears picked up many voices—every nearby room was filled with people from Xida Ying Village, and after two days of terror, it was normal for them to talk more now that they were in a safe environment.

"You know I didn't mean that," Zheng Xinyu walked up beside Zhang Su and whispered, "If you can win over that little sister, I don't care at all—worst case, we just get a bigger bed, hehe."

"Your mind is filthy. I'm not like Wu Lue—I don't have a lolicon complex!"

Zhang Su rolled his eyes; sometimes he felt he was quite lucky—two flags fluttering in his home, each with her own strengths. Zhong Xiaoshan had fully leveraged her advantages since arriving at the camp, managing logistics flawlessly, while Zheng Xinyu still kept her little devil personality, fighting with zero hesitation. Most importantly, the two got along perfectly.

"Precisely because you're not a lolicon that I say you're off. Are you thinking about that woman today?"

The two walked downstairs together; Zheng Xinyu's tone suddenly shifted, becoming more serious.

Zhang Su wasn't used to it—he glanced at her and shook his head: "No."

"I know you've taken a heavy psychological hit today. If you've got something to say, say it—I won't say a word, and neither will Xiaoshan. Don't bottle it up, okay?"

Zheng Xinyu remembered how Zhang Su had killed his ex-girlfriend today—no hesitation at all with that grenade. Lei Youliang and Su Lei probably never expected Zhang Su would strike first without warning. Who knew how much internal struggle he'd gone through?

"Huh…" Zhang Su exhaled slowly, pulled out a cigarette from his pocket, offered one to Zheng Xinyu, lit up, and said calmly, "It's over. These past months, I've had too many things forced on me—this one's no different. As long as we're all still alive, that's enough! Oh, we'll need extra guards on duty tonight."

He blew a smoke ring and looked toward where the Xida Ying Village people were housed.

"Speaking of that… husband, we'll probably need to activate Madian Zhuang ahead of schedule."

Zheng Xinyu felt growing psychological pressure from the camp's rising population—she had watched the Qinglong Army get swallowed whole by the horde, and she didn't want to follow that path.

Zhang Su nodded: "Yeah. I planned to just get through this winter, but it won't work—better to activate it early. Besides, we still need to ferry water from there to Tianma Yu regularly anyway. Tomorrow, arrange for people from Lianhe Village and Xida Ying to go over. Twenty-plus from Kuan Zhuang will head out to clear other villages."

It wasn't that Madian Zhuang couldn't hold Kuan Zhuang's people—it was that satellite villages had strict population limits. Too many residents would defeat the purpose. Zhang Su and Yu Wen's research concluded thirty to forty people was optimal.

That number allowed for efficient work distribution and well-structured defensive tactics. How large a horde it might attract was uncertain, but with vigilance and precautions, it wouldn't be a problem.

Zhang Su and Zheng Xinyu finished their cigarettes and returned to the room to find Zhong Xiaoshan sitting under a desk lamp, writing and sketching.

"Huh? You're back? I've finished the inventory—this trip yielded an incredible amount of weapons!"

Zhong Xiaoshan handed the notebook to Zhang Su; it detailed the exact weapon counts.

Zhang Su glanced at it and smiled with satisfaction.

According to the inventory records, there were enough rifles to arm every person in the camp—with extras. They'd also acquired grenades, rocket launchers, and even two mortars—too bad no one knew how to use them.

Not that they were completely clueless—they could fire them, but accurate targeting was difficult. Even Pan Guoliang, who had some background, shook his head.

"Haha, tomorrow we get a tank too. Wait till we bring back the 99—now that'll be impressive!"

Zhang Su unconsciously pressed his waist pouch—the real powerhouse was inside: two vials of pure toxin concentrate, far more extraordinary than all the weapons listed in the notebook!

"You really trust those people from Daqiao Fortress? You didn't even leave someone to guard the base. What if they steal it? You'll regret it!"

Zheng Xinyu made a face.

Zhang Su shook his head: "A tank's important, but not more important than people. Leaving someone to guard it risks more than it's worth. I bet Daqiao Fortress won't dare touch the tank—if they try to sneak it off, the trail's too obvious. They won't risk provoking us. Meng Changwei isn't as arrogant as Lei Youliang—he won't think one tank lets him challenge us."

If it were only the weapons listed in the notebook, Zhang Su wouldn't feel this confident. It was the two vials of pure toxin in his pouch that made him stand tall.

At this moment, he finally understood the feeling of "firepower is justice!"

"Brother Su, don't just focus on weapons—check the food reserves… the camp's population jumped a lot, and our stock is getting tight."

Zhong Xiaoshan flipped open another small notebook, pinched her temples, looking worried.

Tianma Yu originally had only twenty-some people; with refugees from Lianhe Village, it reached forty.

Three Qinglong Army captives—Xin Qi and others—had been recruited, plus Pan Guoliang and Xie Yan, along with twenty-eight villagers from Xida Ying. Tomorrow, another twenty-plus were expected to arrive.

Tianma Yu's population had more than doubled, so food consumption had surged. Lianhe Village was fine—their food was still there, and they'd brought some over to supplement. But Xida Ying had donated all their food to the Qinglong Army.

Zhang Su glanced at the notebook casually. After securing ample firepower, his sense of urgency over food had lessened. He waved his hand: "Still under a hundred people. Don't stress. Tomorrow we'll bring back more food from Qinglong Army, and Kuan Zhuang has plenty to spare."

"The Qinglong Army is gone. This entire region now has no other organized survivor camps—every nearby village is our granary. Once everyone adjusts to the climate, we'll build the camp while gathering food. We'll have enough to last until spring. Once planting starts, things will only get better!"

With Zhang Su's future plan as reassurance, Zhong Xiaoshan's anxiety over food finally faded.

In the apocalypse, every crisis must be taken seriously—but blind panic serves no purpose.

"It's past ten… get some rest. Tomorrow's busy. You two go ahead, I'll step out for a smoke."

Zhang Su checked his watch and headed for the balcony. He felt no sleepiness at all—his energy drain was incredibly slow. From full to now, five hours had passed, and he still had 92% left.

Verifying the energy bar's accuracy through his own condition confirmed it was correct. This made him recall that before activating the energy bar, his energy had shown 45%—he'd thought that was pretty good. Turns out he had no concept of what "fully energized" even meant…

"Guess I really was tired back then."

Zhang Su muttered to himself, then focused on the backup energy bar. The first one had filled about 30%.

"Five hours passed, only 30% charged? This speed isn't friendly."

If both bars were charging slowly, this pace would be acceptable. But with only one charging, it felt painfully slow.

"There must be a way to speed up recovery… for now, just keep studying."

Thinking this, Zhang Su turned and walked back inside.

"Aren't you going to smoke?"

Zheng Xinyu was waiting for Zhong Xiaoshan to finish using the bathroom. Seeing Zhang Su step onto the balcony, stare blankly for a moment, then return, she looked at him with concern.

"I thought about it—I'm going to sleep. No smoke. You two get ready. I'll go tell them to turn up the heat."

Zhang Su walked to the bed and picked up the radio.

The camp had gained many new people—not slaves, but future partners. On this first night, better not let them freeze.

(End of Chapter)