Chapter 470: Did Someone Get Jealous?

The combined strength of our five families is unquestionably the strongest in Qincheng!

Yang Xin was the first to respond to the call; he could already imagine how Absolute Justice would react upon hearing this news—certainly stunned! Finally, the constant threat of Absolute Justice causing trouble up north would be eased.

"That's right—whether in number of combatants or weaponry and equipment, we're the strongest. Even the folks up in Beihé District can't match us!"

Zhang Xin clenched his fist tightly.

"Over a hundred combatants, six hundred-plus logistics personnel—what a massive force…"

Li Zongkai couldn't help but sigh; back then, even half a residential block had seven or eight hundred people, but now half a city has only this many—what a huge difference.

"Tsk…"

But as soon as Li Zongkai finished speaking, Zhang Su immediately clicked his tongue and shook his head: "The military-to-civilian ratio is too low. I set a standard: it must reach three to one—combatants must be three times the number of logistics personnel! Even as the population grows, we must strive to maintain at least two to one, or have strong defensive structures; otherwise, the more people we have, the larger the horde we attract, and the harder it becomes to defend!"

"Logistics personnel" is a polite term—this group actually has several subcategories. The best are those with special talents, like Fu Wei, Xie Yan, Ma Changshou, and even Yi Xiaoling counts as half a special talent.

Aside from the tiny minority of special talents, the rest are large numbers of ordinary laborers—mostly the elderly, children, and women, plus some disabled but determined individuals who lack self-defense ability but can handle camp chores and hard labor.

Then there's the most frustrating category: those who not only lack self-defense ability but have lost even basic self-care capacity. This isn't usually voluntary—it's mostly due to objective circumstances—but regardless of the reason, they burden everyone else.

At the start of the disaster, these people were always abandoned by their groups—everyone was fighting for survival, too busy saving themselves—but now it's different…

Human civilization is barely sprouting in this post-apocalyptic wasteland; no normal faction would abandon its own unless absolutely forced to.

"Two to one… meaning if we have six hundred logistics personnel, we need at least four hundred combatants. Damn… that's too hard! Just look at my camp—after removing everyone over sixty, under twelve, and the injured or disabled, there's hardly anyone left!"

Yang Xin shook his hands helplessly, embarrassed.

Liu Yao squinted and calculated: "My camp doesn't have many elderly or children—except for two or three with missing limbs, everyone else can be trained. But some women are just too clueless—they're great at pleasing men, but tremble like hell when holding a weapon against zombies. Still, if we push hard, we can barely scrape up a one-to-one ratio."

The Little Eagle Society still has over seventy people; because Liu Yao's standards for accepting survivors excluded most elderly and children, pulling out thirty or so for combat training isn't difficult.

Seeing Liu Yao and Yang Xin discussing their camps, Li Zongkai thought for a moment and chuckled awkwardly: "My situation's similar to the Tianqi Group—I've taken in some elderly and children. If we count everything, maybe one-third can be trained, but then logistics will be stretched thin."

"Oh wow, you guys are all struggling—then we're even worse! Forget one-third, if we can pull out a quarter, we'll be praying to heaven!"

Zhang Xin spread his hands helplessly; he didn't know the core details, but he knew exactly what kind of people were in the camp.

"Cough…"

Yu Wen cleared his throat softly and said to Zhang Su: "If we adopt decentralized garrisons or satellite villages, we can afford to lower the military-to-civilian ratio. Once later-stage city defenses are built and people can live concentrated in fortified areas, we won't need so many combatants—other developments become more important."

Zhang Su didn't deny Yu Wen's point; the military-to-civilian ratio shouldn't be rigid—it's a flexible value. Two to one means two combatants protect themselves while also covering one logistics person, but conversely, one logistics person must handle all daily camp tasks—including their own share and two others'—or even crop production.

Among the core members of Tianmayu, almost everyone is a combatant; only Fu Wei and Yi Xiaoling are slightly clumsy against zombies. But if you include the satellite villages, the ratio is roughly three to two.

From the current situation, this is a very comfortable ratio—but it's hard to maintain as numbers grow.

"It's like the relationship between social security contributors and pension recipients. Fine, let's be flexible—keep it between a three-seven and seven-three split. Once we return, get everyone's decision on whether to stay or leave, then act immediately."

Zhang Su decided to drop the issue for now—there were more urgent matters ahead.

"No one will object. Honestly, asking for opinions is unnecessary."

Liu Yao spoke bluntly.

"Exactly—what else do they want to do?"

Yang Xin and Zhang Xin also believed the survivors at the bottom of these factions had no choice but to obey.

"Still, we should follow Mr. Zhang's request and go through the motions. Choosing is up to them; whether they get to choose is our attitude. Give them a chance—don't leave hidden dangers."

Li Zongkai understood Zhang Su's thinking and explained for him.

"Old Li's right. I know those bottom-tier survivors have no real choice—but that doesn't stop us from giving them a choice. When we need to be firm, we're firm; when we can be generous, we should be generous."

Zhang Su generously shared his experience as a leader with those present—these people would need to manage others in the future. If they kept operating the old way, it wouldn't work.

"While handling this, we must also push forward another task: establishing a communication network. After today's incident, you've all seen how vital real-time communication is—it's urgent! Old Li, do you have enough equipment to connect all five of our groups?" Zhang Su raised another issue.

"Oh dear…" Li Zongkai frowned. "I have some equipment, but I don't understand this stuff. I'll find a specialist later—this needs someone who knows what they're doing."

"Alright, I have someone who specializes in electronic communication devices—I'll have him help out. For now, that's all. Rest tonight; we leave early tomorrow. It's been a long time since I've been in the city—I'm actually looking forward to it."

Zhang Su leaned back in his chair, his eyes filled with memories, when he suddenly noticed Ju Wuying watching him. He sat up straight and said: "By the way, do you know what the coast is like? Can we go to sea?"

"The coast? I've never been there…"

"Not sure, but you could ask someone who found the coastal safe zone."

"It's too cold—coastal areas with low salinity must be frozen solid. Yanluowang, why do you want to go to sea?"

Liu Yao asked curiously.

Zhang Su smirked: "I need to go to sea for something, but since no one knows, let's leave it for now—I'll check it out myself when the chance comes. Alright, go have fun. I've got no entertainment here—play cards if you want, but don't wander into the mountains in the dark. You might not get bitten by zombies, but you'll die falling into a ravine—that'd be tragic…"

"Haha, don't worry."

"I'll gather my men for a meeting to plan tomorrow."

"To be fair, Yanluowang, your place is perfect for retirement—so damn dull."

The group got out of the vehicle, leaving only Yu Wen and Ju Wuying inside.

"Sakura, is something wrong?"

As the car door closed, Zhang Su asked bluntly.

"Liu Yao and Yang Xin have mutual hostility. Their attitudes toward you, and Zhang Xin's, are normal—but Li Zongkai's attitude toward you…"

Here, Ju Wuying frowned slightly.

Zhang Su's heart jolted—he never imagined Ju Wuying could sense the special connection between him and Li Zongkai. This was too incredible. He quickly changed the subject: "Alright, I get it. By the way, I told Xiao Shan to give you two bottles of good wine as a reward for today's prisoner escort."

Yu Wen's lips twitched involuntarily; he looked at Zhang Su with a strange, unreadable expression, then glanced through the window at Li Zongkai's distant back, silently speculating about their unspoken relationship—strange, very strange. Could it be…

"Cough… cough, cough!"

Yu Wen suddenly burst into a fit of coughing.

"Are you alright, Old Yu?"

Zhang Su sat up, concerned—this old strategist better not fall ill.

"Choked on my own saliva…" Yu Wen awkwardly wiped his mouth.

Ju Wuying's gaze flickered faintly, calmly saying: "Don't rush to get rid of me—I haven't finished."

"I'm not kicking you out. If you haven't finished, then go ahead."

Zhang Su gestured for her to continue.

"Li Zongkai…"

"Didn't I say not to talk about him?"

"It's not about you—it's that Li Zongkai has a faint hostility toward Mr. Yu!" Ju Wuying said calmly.

"Huh?"

"Ah?"

This time, not only Zhang Su was stunned—even Yu Wen was confused, wondering: Could it be… jealousy? (End of Chapter)