Chapter 537: Liao Youzhi

Alert lifted, combat personnel dismissed, those on duty report to posts, others rest—the chaotic day finally fell silent.

With the arrival of the kindergarten branch and the Yama Legion, the LeGou Mall did not feel any more crowded, as the total population had still decreased compared to a few days ago…

This was no longer the Earth with eight billion humans; the city's population had plummeted to an appalling level!

Under these conditions, ordinary people naturally grieved at the continuous loss of their kind, and now, the true value of "unity is strength" was fully revealed.

"Brother Hao, I brought the guy you asked for—he performed well."

On the fourth floor of the mall, Pan Guoliang led Tian Fan to Zhang Su, placing a hand on Tian Fan's shoulder like an old friend.

He had been assisting—or rather, supervising—Tian Fan as he dealt with the Justice Messengers and interrogated other logistics personnel of Absolute Justice, working for over half an hour.

"Zhang, Brother Zhang, I—I've completed every task you gave me!"

Tian Fan said, his voice trembling with excitement.

Zhang Su studied Tian Fan and noticed his tense muscles and twitching skin—the reaction of someone who had endured intense trauma.

He pulled out a cigarette pack, stepped forward, and offered it to both men. "You did well. Have a smoke. Tell me what happened after you left the residential compound."

"Big Zhu just called me—I'll go see what's up!"

Pan Guoliang lit a cigarette and left with perfect tact.

By the window on the fourth floor, Zhang Su watched the outside while listening to Tian Fan recount his past experiences—his goal was simple: to check whether Tian Fan's account matched Duan Wuhu's. If they aligned, all was well; if not, someone was lying.

The outcome was acceptable: their stories overlapped by seventy percent, strongly suggesting neither had lied.

Then, inevitably, the conversation turned to Tian Fan's eyes and arm. Zhang Su learned that his injuries were self-inflicted, unrelated to Absolute Justice—merely because of these disabilities, his situation in the camp had become miserable.

"Brother Zhang, are Master Duan and Sister Yu Nuo both at Tianma Isle? I really want to see them."

After their chat, Tian Fan's emotions had calmed, and the atmosphere grew lively.

"Master Duan is indeed at Tianma Isle, but Yu Nuo… you won't be seeing her."

Zhang Su made no concealment—he told Tian Fan everything that had happened.

"Ah… Sister Yu Nuo, she… how could she… she actually did that to Master Duan… oh my god."

Tian Fan couldn't believe it—he fell completely silent.

Slap. Slap.

Zhang Su patted Tian Fan's shoulder. "In the apocalypse, people make choices that are all reasonable—no right or wrong, just different perspectives. You're tired today. Go rest. Tomorrow, come with us—we're heading to Tianma Isle."

Hearing he could go to Tianma Isle, Tian Fan felt no excitement as before—he remained lost in confusion over Yu Nuo's betrayal of Duan Wuhu.

After seeing Tian Fan off, a vehicle returned to the LeGou Mall, shattering the quiet once more.

Yang Xin's group had come back. They left in one vehicle; they returned in three. Though no container trailer was visible, each car's trunk was loaded with supplies.

When they arrived at the bathhouse, it was empty—the trailer was gone, and there was no trail to follow. After careful consideration, they gave up pursuit and gathered the scattered supplies to bring back.

Zhang Su wasn't surprised—he praised them for securing the supplies.

After a brief burst of activity, the mall fell quiet again, leaving only the rustle of hushed whispers. Those without duty that night slept especially soundly—strong fighters patrolled, the furnace-like fire zombies provided endless heat, and this sense of safety and comfort was a luxury most hadn't felt in over two months.

"Ah, what a pity—this data is useless now. The zombies have been upgraded; all this information is outdated."

Inside a Suancai Fish restaurant on the fourth floor, Zhang Su lay on a Simmons mattress, wrapped in a cozy down comforter. A wall of tables and chairs stood neatly beside him as a partition. He held Liao Youzhi's notebook in his hands, a camping lantern glowing on the floor beside the bed—the messy handwriting gave him a headache.

It recorded details of many factions—not exhaustive, but as thorough as possible, focusing primarily on combat strength. Compared to the Little Eagle Society and the Apocalypse Group, Liao Youzhi's data matched reality closely.

Beside him, Zheng Xinyu wrinkled her nose in a strange expression. "That woman clearly has feelings for you. Why don't you respond?"

"Don't talk nonsense. I saved them—her gratitude is natural." Zhang Su replied casually, flipping another page of the notebook.

"Oh? I only said 'that woman.' How do you know which one I meant?"

Zheng Xinyu bent down and leaned close to Zhang Su's ear.

Feeling the warm breath against his ear, Zhang Su sighed with amusement. "Pan Ru, of course. What's hard to understand? Don't forget I've dated more girlfriends than you have fingers and toes combined!"

"Damn, you're proud of that?"

Zheng Xinyu slipped her hand under the blanket and pinched Zhang Su's arm—but his muscles were too dense, and she felt nothing…

"We saved Pan Ru twice. Isn't it natural for her to be grateful?"

Zhang Su shifted slightly. The bed was indeed comfortable—more so than his bed at Tianma Isle—but he still didn't feel that same sense of security.

"I believe she's grateful, but there's definitely more to it."

Zheng Xinyu shook the soft down comforter. "Look at this bedding—Star Mercury, Snow-White Goose Down, flagship model. Before the collapse, this one bed would've cost ten thousand or more—better than what Liao Youzhi used! She never mentioned Liao Youzhi had a private warehouse. As soon as she heard you'd be staying here, she rushed Bozi to the warehouse to pick out the best mattress and bedding for you. Hmm, look how bouncy this Simmons is!"

As she spoke, Zheng Xinyu bounced up and down on the mattress, her whole body rising and falling—adorable, yet comical.

"I mean…"

Zhang Su flipped the notebook face-down on the floor. Even with his perfect body control, he couldn't read under these conditions. He rolled over and yanked Zheng Xinyu onto the bed. "If you want to try the new bed, just say so. Why all this performance?"

"No, no, no!"

Zheng Xinyu felt a hairy hand groping her and quickly blocked it, blushing and indignant. "Don't fool around! Do you think this place is soundproof? You can hear Bozi grinding his teeth next door! Don't you remember the leader's image project?"

"What? Is the leader's image supposed to be some emotionless Buddha? That's ridiculous… If you're too scared to do it, just quietly sleep, you crazy woman!"

Zhang Su released her. Though he spoke harshly, he knew they couldn't act recklessly—he had no such kinks, and he didn't want anyone overhearing.

"Sleep, sleep! Don't forget to turn off the light…" Zheng Xinyu's face burned red. For once, she felt this comfortable—she had her own thoughts, but the environment didn't allow it.

She muttered: "Hmm… used to call me Xiao Xinyu, now it's 'crazy woman.' Ah, so comfortable… huuu."

Zhang Su turned over, picked up Liao Youzhi's notebook, and resumed reading.

Overall, the notebook contained plenty of information—but now, after today, nearly all camp data needed updating. Some camps might vanish entirely, and no one would be surprised.

Beyond these basic details, three special entries in the notebook deeply concerned Zhang Su.

The first was a rumor from over half a month ago—around the time of the last Jiaoyi Society—that a large survivor camp in Changli Grape Gully had been swallowed by a horde of zombies.

Coincidentally, the camp was named after the gully itself. Its favorable location had drawn many survivors, making it the largest in Changli—before its fall, it housed five hundred people! But numbers meant nothing without quality weapons and equipment. After growing comfortable in the rich environment, they lowered their guard—and were ultimately wiped out.

Normally, zombies wouldn't linger in one place. After destroying Grape Gully, they should've moved on to new targets. But strangely, they didn't leave.

Not only did the horde linger around Grape Gully, but zombies from surrounding areas slowly converged toward it. The last report came half a month ago: two camps had conducted rough surveys and estimated the horde's size at between two hundred thousand and three hundred thousand.

One nearby faction, fearing a zombie outbreak, relocated their camp to Funing County.

This news stirred unease in Zhang Su. Changli Grape Gully was seventy kilometers from Qincheng—but that was road distance; the straight-line distance was only forty to fifty kilometers. Still, he felt relieved: between them lay numerous survivor camps, and they were certainly safe for now.

More puzzling was why Grape Gully attracted zombies. If they stayed put, it was almost ideal—wait until their strength grew, acquire better modern weapons, fire one missile, and wipe out two hundred thousand or three hundred thousand zombies in one go!

This entry had puzzling aspects, but it also answered a long-standing mystery in Zhang Su's mind.

He often wondered: Qincheng's urban and county populations totaled three million. Today's survivors surely numbered no more than thirty thousand—negligible in proportion.

The rest weren't all zombies. In these months, a huge portion of the dead were humans and zombies—likely a million or more. Then came the zombies drawn away in all directions—another several hundred thousand.

Based on their usual estimates, the total zombie population in Qincheng should be between five hundred thousand and one million. But where had they all gone? That mystery had now been partially solved.

(End of Chapter)