Chapter 604: There

"Hah, this is fucking hilarious... come on, tell me about yourself."

Zhang Su couldn't help laughing at the stories these people had with Liao Youzhi.

At least it wasn't a cold laugh—it helped ease the tension. The man steadied himself and said, "My name is Zhou Haotian. I work as a librarian. After the disaster broke out, I fled from my neighborhood to Liangma Mall because the library was right next door, and I knew it well. I survived the first month and change."

Later, a survivor team found the mall, and I joined them. After that, we arrived at LeGou Mall, and once we joined the Survivors' Alliance... I told Leader Liao..."

"What leader Liao? That's Liao Youzhi. Now there's only the King of Hell, Commander Zhang!"

Yang Dongxin nearly jumped out of his skin hearing Zhou Haotian call him "Leader Liao" and quickly corrected him.

"Right, right, Liao Youzhi, Liao Youzhi—I told Liao Youzhi I was an assistant researcher from Beijing's Quantum Science Department, and I successfully slipped into the science division."

After speaking, Zhou Haotian awkwardly scratched his head.

"Zhou Haotian..."

Zhang Su muttered the name, feeling a strange sense of familiarity, but couldn't quite place it.

Hearing Zhang Su murmur his name, Zhou Haotian's bladder tightened—he hadn't heard Zhang Su mutter Left Fengjuan or Yang Dongxin's names just now...

Left Fengjuan and Yang Dongxin also grew tense, glancing at Zhou Haotian. The room fell silent, as if you could hear the thudding of hearts.

"I don't know..." Zhang Su shook his head, snapping back to the present: "Beijing? Quantum science department? Impressive... all three of you are impressive! You tricked Liao Youzhi into believing you? With your level of competence, you really made that zombie powder?"

He'd thought he'd found three treasures—turns out this was the result. No wonder Xie Yan said they were just ordinary people following orders!

Yang Dongxin exhaled in relief and offered a grim smile: "It was just luck. We mixed some zombie organs for purification, and accidentally invented the zombie powder. Don't laugh—I can't even reproduce it now."

"You're medieval witches brewing potions? I'm fucking impressed!"

Zhang Su completely lost steam. He'd thought these half-baked idiots had some skill, but turns out they weren't even half-baked—and yet they somehow created something that nearly got people killed.

"So after Fu Weijun left, you all started running wild?"

Zhang Su began to suspect the real reason Fu Weijun left the Survivors' Alliance—maybe he didn't object to human experiments at all, but just couldn't stand these incompetent colleagues.

Faced with such an awkward question, the three had nothing to say and lowered their heads.

Zhang Su looked at the three before him, utterly drained. He waved his hand: "Regardless, you were trusted by Liao Youzhi. Did he ever mention any secrets to you? Tell me."

Since they had no real skills, at least ask for information.

"Yes, yes, yes!"

Yang Dongxin answered quickly, excitement in his voice: "Liao Youzhi was cunning—he set up a private warehouse at LeGou Mall, and another one in Batong Building. I overheard him mention it once when we were talking."

"Really?"

Zhang Su frowned: "Don't make things up. Wu Baokang is right here in camp—he's already surrendered. I don't believe there's anything you know that he doesn't!"

Wu Baokang, one of Liao Youzhi's personal bodyguards, held a lot of messy information.

Yang Dongxin visibly paused at the mention of Wu Baokang's name, but didn't show fear—he nodded firmly: "I don't know if Little Wu knows, but I guarantee this is true: there's a private storage room in Batong Building!"

"Batong Building... that's far from LeGou Mall, maybe two kilometers away. Where exactly in the building is it? What's inside?" Zhang Su grew interested—after all, a leader of several hundred people wouldn't leave a backup stash without something valuable.

"I guess it's mostly food and weapons. But I don't know the exact location. Liao Youzhi was drunk that day and muttered it offhand."

"Batong Building has A and B towers, over ten stories, more than three hundred units. Your info is useless. I'll ask you—have you heard anything about the Pigeon Nest? I heard something happened over there!"

Zhang Su asked directly, withholding full details—if they knew something, they'd fill in the gaps.

"Pigeon Nest... Pigeon Nest!"

As expected, the young man Zhou Haotian nodded vigorously: "I heard something—there's a ball in the sea near Pigeon Nest!"

Yang Dongxin and Left Fengjuan clearly didn't know this—both stared at Zhou Haotian with curiosity.

"A ball?" Zhang Su feigned ignorance, gesturing for more: "What's so special about a ball? Anything else?"

"I have a friend... uh, this isn't a joke—really, I have a friend. He joined a group called Water Bear in the Beihe District. Once, when he came to LeGou Mall to trade supplies, we met. He told me about it."

"It's nothing much—suddenly, a glowing ball appeared over the sea near Pigeon Nest. No one knows when it showed up. Maybe it was there all along, but only started emitting electricity recently, which drew attention."

"Suddenly emitting electricity?"

Zhang Su rubbed his chin, deep in thought.

"Yeah!" Zhou Haotian nodded. "He said it was snowing that night. Everyone went out onto the balconies to watch the snow, then spotted a flickering light over the sea—like someone welding. They went to investigate and found the ball."

"Snowing..."

Zhang Su's heart jolted. Now it made sense—the sphere wasn't human-made.

"Any more details? Didn't they try to retrieve it?"

Zhang Su pressed.

"I asked that. My friend said the ball is too far from shore. Their leader thought it wasn't worth the risk." Zhou Haotian spread his hands, as if he agreed.

Zhang Su didn't press further. He paced back and forth, thinking. After two or three minutes, he turned to the three: "Anything else? Any secrets known only to a few? I don't care about your personal business—I want Survivors' Alliance secrets."

"Hmm... I know something about Gong Chengming. Not sure if it's useful."

Yang Dongxin raised his hand.

"Speak!"

"I accidentally noticed Gong Chengming entering and leaving the office building across from LeGou Mall. His behavior was strange—he must've hidden something. I didn't investigate, and... uh... I didn't tell anyone. You're the first to know."

Yang Dongxin offered a sycophantic smile.

Thwack.

Zhang Su slapped his forehead, exasperated: "Your info is fucking late! Gong Chengming hid thousands of zombies in that building! Damn it—by telling me this, I just saved your lives!"

"The day you left in the morning, it snowed that afternoon. The zombies got stronger and went berserk. They stormed out of the office building across from LeGou Mall and attacked. More than ten of our guys died. If we hadn't rushed over from Little Eagle Society, the entire LeGou Mall garrison would've been wiped out!"

(End of Chapter)