Chapter 531: Someone

A group of people nervously stepped out through the shattered gate of the entertainment city; the sky was pitch black, devoid of stars or moon, and without the flashlight mounted on their foreheads, it would have been utterly impossible to see a hand before their faces.

Breathing the cold air, the distance beyond was filled with the unknown, darkness seeming capable of swallowing everything.

"Chicken Leg Brother, you think the main force of the Survivors' Alliance made it to Qingxian? Could they really be trapped by the zombies and not come back?"

Sitting in the car, the anxious Da Ka tried to ease his inner unease by talking to his companion.

The man called Chicken Leg rolled his eyes, glanced around, saw his companions boarding one by one, then turned the key to start the vehicle, speaking with clear impatience.

"Da Ka, can you just shut up? We're clearly not safe out here wandering. Boss clearly plans to take over the LeGou Mall—just support him, why all this nonsense? You call me Brother, so I'll give you a warning: Ding Wei kills without hesitation. If you keep this up, you're in danger!"

"I—I'm just scared, Chicken Leg Brother, you've got to look out for your little brother…"

Whirr! In the silent environment, the engine's faint roar was painfully loud; Da Ka shrank back, glancing at the trailer.

Ding Wei was reversing; the massive vehicle was hard to maneuver—he needed to hide the trailer's rear inside the broken gate of the bathhouse beside the entertainment center, making it look like an accident.

He'd been uneasy before, but now zombies were terrifyingly strong; no one would likely come out to rummage through things anytime soon.

Moments later, eight vehicles left the entertainment center one after another; at the same time, on Tianma Yu, some walkie-talkies in the Xiao Xingyun guesthouse crackled to life.

"Everyone pay attention—a vehicle is approaching from the south, repeat, a vehicle… no, wait—it looks like… it's our camp's car! Someone's back!"

Yang Wenjie's excited voice pierced everyone's ears.

Almost everyone from Tianma Yu and the satellite village had gathered at Xiao Xingyun; except those on special duty, all were together, not because anything important needed discussing, but simply because being together felt safer—they chatted aimlessly, occasionally stumbling upon seemingly good ideas.

Everyone felt as if they'd returned to the first night of the disaster—uncertainty, unease, fear, and oppression filled their hearts.

Hearing the news from the surveillance room, Zhong Xiaoshan took a deep breath, her heart pounding, and was the first to stand up; soon after, many others rose as well.

"I wonder who's back first—let's go meet them at the gate."

Zhong Xiaoshan forced a smile and walked toward the gate first.

She said she didn't know who it was, but inwardly she feared pessimistically: Could it be that only one vehicle returned…?

A single vehicle couldn't carry many people! Many shared this bleak thought, visible in their frightened, uneasy expressions.

Soon, fifty or sixty people gradually gathered inside Shanmen, just as car headlights pierced through the iron plates.

"I'm Ju Wuying—I've brought injured people for treatment! Open the gate quickly!"

Before the vehicle had even stopped, a cold voice rang out.

"It's Xiao Ju!"

Yi Xiaoling's face lit up with joy; she was about to respond when Ma Changshou beside her shook his head—his gesture: don't speak.

"Ju Wuying… quickly, open the gate!"

When Zhong Xiaoshan heard the name, she froze for a moment, then immediately ordered people to move away row after row of roadblocks. To ensure tight defense, Shanmen was piled high with fortifications—thousands of enhanced zombies would struggle to break through, giving people vital time to kill them! Yu Qing had even placed several high-yield explosives inside the barricades, ready to deliver a crushing blow to any zombies forcing their way in.

Everyone scrambled, clearing a path quickly; the gate opened, and the vehicle slowly rolled in.

"One person from our camp is injured; everyone else is safe—you can rest easy!"

Ju Wuying didn't need to see their tense faces to guess what they wanted to know; before anyone could ask, she announced the result outright. Though she disliked socializing, her efficiency was undeniable.

Upon hearing this, everyone exhaled a long, relieved breath.

"You've worked hard, Xiao Ying—who's injured, and what's the situation?"

Zhong Xiaoshan hurried alongside the vehicle, asking beside the driver's window.

Behind her, Yi Xiaoling also wanted to step forward and speak, but Ma Changshou pulled her back again—she was close to Ju Wuying, but this wasn't the time for her to speak.

"Liu Tianji—bit by a zombie, already amputated." Concise, ten words, clearly stating the essentials.

Once the vehicle stopped, Ju Wuying added: "I brought back five—no, four—zombie-bitten casualties. All have received preliminary treatment. Where's Dr. Fu?"

When they left LeGou Mall, there were five injured; now only four remained…

Logically, Ju Wuying should have reached Tianma Yu half an hour ago—but the journey back from LeGou Mall was far from smooth! Many zombies had been trapped on the Hahe Riverbed; previously, they couldn't climb ashore, but after this round of enhancement, many had already reached the riverbank.

When the headlights shone toward Hahe River Bridge, dense shadows appeared ahead—two or three hundred zombies wandered near the bridge. Even someone as strong as Ju Wuying dared not confront them head-on; she ultimately had to lure them onto the North Second Ring Road to pass safely.

She thought the rest of the journey would be smooth sailing back to Tianma Yu, but just as one wave subsided, another rose—when the vehicle hit a bumpy stretch near Beidong Town, someone inside suddenly turned!

Ju Wuying had to concentrate fully on driving, so she couldn't use her mist to constantly monitor the cabin interior; otherwise, she might have detected the anomaly minutes earlier. She only realized something was wrong when the man screamed.

She'd wanted to floor the accelerator and head straight back to Tianma Yu—after all, the injured were all tied down, unlikely to cause trouble—but the other injured couldn't move easily; leaving the turned one unattended would have been disastrous, so she had to stop and deal with the zombie transformation immediately.

This delay cost them considerable time.

"Here, here—is this for me?"

From behind the crowd, Duan Wu pushed Fu Wei forward in a wheelchair; a camping lantern hung from the wheelchair's handlebars, illuminating his anxious, eager expression.

"Four zombie-bitten casualties need treatment—should I take them to Cuilengxuan?"

Ju Wuying spotted Yi Xiaoling in the crowd, smiled at her, then asked Fu Wei.

"Four? Yes, yes, that's… too… too much trouble for you—take them there!"

Currently, Cuilengxuan held three injured; even so, Fu Wei still felt the number of observation subjects was too low. Hearing four more potential zombie-transforming humans were coming, he was thrilled—barely holding back from shouting, "Perfect!"

In fact, the zombie-transformation-blocking liquid had already taken effect; Xie Yan was closely monitoring it in the lab. Neither he nor Fu Wei had told anyone—not even Duan Wu—because the effect manifested only at the microscopic level, invisible from the outside.

"By the way!" Fu Wei suddenly remembered something, waving urgently at Ju Wuying: "Did you encounter any special mutated zombies during your fight in the city? Not the huge ones—ones with special abilities? Did you see any?"

Based on the number of injured returned and the current situation, Fu Wei quickly deduced the scale of zombies the main force had faced. Such heavy losses might mean they'd encountered a mutated zombie.

Ju Wuying was surprised by Fu Wei's deductive ability, but her face remained expressionless as she shook her head: "Brother Zhang calls the huge zombies 'Big Guys.' We encountered many of those—over ten."

"Then… no other special mutated zombies?" Fu Wei pressed.

Ju Wuying frowned slightly; she disliked lying, so she gave Fu Wei a cold glance, then turned to Zhong Xiaoshan: "I know you have many questions for me. I'll come to Xiao Xingyun after I deliver the injured—wait for me there."

With that, she nodded with a smile at Yi Xiaoling, then pressed the accelerator, speeding toward the higher ground of the guesthouse area—like a master of the Autumn Mountain racetrack.

"We're here to help… so fast?"

Zhong Xiaoshan hadn't expected Ju Wuying to just floor it…

"Quick, quick, Brother Duan, let's get back to the lab!"

Fu Wei had no time to think further—he hurried to turn back.

"Sister, don't mind her—Xiao Ju's just always like this, impulsive."

Yi Xiaoling stared at the fading taillights, awkwardly explaining; she thought Ju Wuying had slipped back into her old habit—disdaining everyone present, refusing to engage.

She had no idea the car carried hidden liquid-gas zombies—Ju Wuying needed to conceal them first.

By the time Ju Wuying finished everything, fifteen minutes had passed. She deliberately avoided Fu Wei's residence, waiting until he was busy in the lab before heading to Xiao Xingyun.

When the crowd saw Ju Wuying enter the courtyard, chaos erupted—questions poured in; with communication cut off, information flow had reverted to ancient times…

The oppressive atmosphere on Tianma Yu had lifted thanks to Ju Wuying's early return, but LeGou Mall had grown tense due to the arrival of unwelcome guests!