Chapter 416: Come Take Over This Mess

"I can find a way to contact Chairman Li!"

After a moment of hesitation, Wu Daqiang told Zhang Su something with a determined expression.

"Huh?"

Zhang Su looked at Wu Daqiang in surprise and asked quickly: "What method?"

"There's a high-power signal transmitter in our vehicle; under ideal conditions, it can reach up to a hundred kilometers."

Wu Daqiang had been reluctant to mention it before because the equipment came from the military camp—he'd hidden it from Zhang Su back then—but then again, it didn't matter anymore; the vehicle was in the other's hands, and any inspection would reveal everything.

"Then what are we waiting for? Hurry, go get the equipment!"

Upon hearing there was a way to contact Li Zongkai, Zhang Su became excited.

First, he wanted to verify the effect of the 【Loyalty Brand】; if it worked properly, next he'd find out what the Survivors' Alliance was doing—he believed Li Zongkai would have more information, and it would be more timely.

Wu Daqiang returned to the parking lot as Zhang Su requested and found their vehicle undisturbed beside the others, while the remaining three vehicles had been completely ransacked; when people saw him approach, they didn't ask questions but simply nodded in greeting.

He didn't need to think to know this was all due to Zhang Su's orders—no one would dare act recklessly. Everything felt unnatural, and Wu Daqiang felt puzzled, but now wasn't the time to investigate; he grabbed the equipment and ran toward Xiao Xingyun.

Soon, the device powered on and operated normally; Wu Daqiang tuned the frequency, and when the green light lit up, signaling a connection, he took a deep breath and picked up the communicator: "Chairman, Chairman, this is Daqiang, Chairman, Chairman…"

He repeated it three times, then set the communicator down and waited patiently for a reply.

Zhang Su tapped the military signal transmitter on the table and smiled wryly: "Where did you dig this up? Why didn't we see it when we went to the camp before?"

"It's like this."

Wu Daqiang knew he couldn't avoid explaining, so he'd been thinking of an excuse; just as he went to retrieve the equipment, a cold wind blew on him and suddenly gave him inspiration—he spoke naturally.

"The camp was in chaos at the time. You know only two of us were cleaning up, so we missed these items—including the night-vision goggles and thermal imaging scopes—all of which we found later, one by one."

Zhang Su nodded with a faint, knowing smile: "Oh, so you found them later? That makes sense. I knew military guys don't lie—if they had anything good, they wouldn't hide it, right?"

Wu Daqiang forced a weak smile, barely managing to answer with a grin.

After some conversation, the other three had learned about Zhang Su's past ties with the Civilization Guardians, and they couldn't help but marvel at fate's strangeness—they now felt more secure, their lives likely safe.

Unconsciously, two or three minutes passed; Zhang Su stared at the silent device and asked skeptically: "Is this reliable?"

Wu Daqiang nodded firmly: "It's reliable, Mr. Zhang, don't rush. Chairman Li needs a dedicated signal transmitter to reach us—he can only receive passively otherwise."

Less than five seconds after he finished speaking, static crackled through the speaker, then a voice emerged: "Little Wu, where are you? Liao Youzhi's out of his mind, making you leave at night—did everything go smoothly?"

Li Zongkai had indeed heard Wu Daqiang's call immediately, but he'd been leaning against his bedhead smoking and thinking; upon hearing the voice, he'd rushed to the communications room, thrown on his coat, and turned on the transmitter—thus the delay.

"Chairman, uh… we're at Tianma Yu now. Uh, the leader of Tianma Yu… is, uh, hahaha… Zhang Su. Do you remember him? The one who went with us to clear zombies back to the camp?"

Wu Daqiang laughed awkwardly.

"Little Zhang?"

Li Zongkai replied instantly, eager: "Little Wu, you're at Little Zhang's place? Tianma Yu belongs to Little Zhang? My god, you didn't have any conflict, did you?"

"No… it's complicated. Why don't you speak to Mr. Zhang yourself?" Wu Daqiang chuckled and glanced at Zhang Su beside him, who nodded.

"Mr. Zhang is right beside you? Fine, fine, quick, let me talk to Mr. Zhang!"

Zhang Su took the communicator from Wu Daqiang, pressed the talk button, and smiled: "Old Li, didn't expect our next meeting would be through your soldiers. Haha."

"Mr. Zhang, it really is you! Haha, oh my, I've been dying to hear from you! I told you not to leave that day, but you insisted on going—I couldn't stop you—and now I'm stuck handling this huge mess alone. It's exhausting! If you were here, how much easier it'd be!"

Li Zongkai began with a string of complaints, but his tone carried unmistakable familiarity.

Wu Daqiang and the others exchanged glances, sensing something odd about the Chairman's behavior, yet couldn't pinpoint why.

Zhang Su wasn't sure of his attitude either, so he decided to probe further: "They say two tigers can't share one mountain. You're a natural leader—I wouldn't want to restrict your growth."

"You're overthinking, Mr. Zhang. We all overthought it back then. My skills were useful before the collapse, but in this apocalypse, I'm struggling—every decision feels like walking on thin ice. We agreed from the start: once you stabilized, you'd take over my whole mess. Don't you dare back out now!"

!!?? At these words, Wu Daqiang and Xiao Tiao were stunned—how could they miss the implication? They'd secretly discussed the future before? And such a major decision? The world felt upside down. The other three looked suddenly enlightened, their expressions mirroring Yu Wen's.

It all made sense now.

Yu Wen couldn't help but nod slowly—he finally understood why Zhang Su had been so warm toward Wu Daqiang's group; they were his own people, after all. But he shared Wu Daqiang's confusion: when had Zhang Su ever talked to Li Zongkai? Even the others didn't know—but Zhang Su himself was equally baffled, for he knew clearly: he'd never had this conversation. If it existed, it must be implanted—his memory had been altered!

As expected...

The past couldn't be proven—it was just a memory, and memories could be erased and rewritten. How powerful.

Zhang Su sighed inwardly, awed by such might.

(End of Chapter)