Chapter 618: That

Walking one kilometer takes about ten minutes; if both sides are moving toward each other, a distance of four to five kilometers means they'll meet in just over twenty minutes!

"Not… they're running toward us?"

Just five minutes after the Yanluojuntuan moved out, they'd advanced about five kilometers—wasn't that it?

Wang Xin kept scanning as he walked forward; as the distance shortened, he could see more details.

"Twenty-six people total: two half-grown boys slightly smaller than Da Kun, five women—they look like they're being held captive by the others. This group is suspicious!"

Zhang Su pretended to peer through the scope with one eye, but he'd already taken in every detail; still, many questions lingered in his mind.

"What? They're holding children and women? What the hell are they planning?"

Yu Qing asked in confusion; her innate kindness hadn't vanished—she still cared for the vulnerable, though now with sharper edges.

"They wouldn't be stupid enough to use children and women's lives to threaten us for supplies, would they?"

Chen Hanzhou's expression turned strange.

At these words, a murmur spread through the group—even in the old civilized world, threatening ordinary people this way was nearly impossible, let alone now.

Zhang Su's smile faded. "They're not that stupid… or they wouldn't be alive today."

Everyone agreed Zhang Su was right, but they still couldn't guess why these people were holding children and women.

Women could serve as logistics staff or be sent to places like pleasure dens to ease warriors' mental strain—but what use were children? Future flowers?

As they spoke, the distance shrank again, now down to about a kilometer; clearly, several people ahead raised their hands, then more and more, until all the captives raised theirs together.

The signal of goodwill was unmistakable.

"Oh? Surrendering already?"

"We're about the same number—they're just farther away. Having a pair of binoculars isn't strange, right? We're holding guns out in the open—wouldn't surrendering be normal?"

"Yeah, that makes sense."

Zhang Su heard the murmurs around him but held a different view: "I've told you all countless times—don't be arrogant, don't be arrogant. Every survivor who's made it this far has something exceptional. Never let your guard down!"

"Uh…"

After being scolded by Zhang Su, everyone fell silent.

"Stop. Wait right here!"

Zhang Su clenched his fist; everyone halted. He turned his head and realized, from this angle, he could just make out the arch of the Haihe Bridge.

After roughly seven or eight minutes, the panting group finally reached within a hundred meters—now everyone could clearly see their condition.

The group's clothing was relatively decent; everyone wore well-fitting down jackets, except the captive children and women.

Their luggage looked haphazard—tattered backpacks hung from shoulders, several sturdy suitcases weathered by time, and some had modified flatbed carts loaded with random junk.

From their numbers and supplies, it was clear they were a group of migrating survivors.

No firearms were visible at a glance, but it was certain they carried weapons—survivors without firearms this long were rare.

Bang! Bang!

When Zhang Su judged the group had closed to fifty or sixty meters, he fired two shots into the wasteland.

No shouting needed—those two shots served as an excellent warning; the approaching group instantly froze, many instinctively flinching or ducking their heads.

The distance wasn't chosen for any special reason—mainly so Zhang Su could hear the whispers from their ranks.

"Master! Masters!"

A man in his forties raised both hands, wearing a Lei Feng cap, speaking in the local Qincheng accent: "Front-line masters, we're survivors from the Shanhai District. I'm Sun Yingui, leading my fellow villagers through here with no ill intent. Please lower your weapons!"

"The masters ahead, we are survivors from the Shanhai District; I'm Sun Yingui, leading my fellow villagers through this area with no ill intent—please lower your weapons!"?? The crowd exchanged bewildered glances.

"Shanhai District? Holy shit, that's a long way from here—did they just walk all this? No zombies along the way?"

"The people's wisdom is truly great—the railway lines were always quiet, and after all this time, even if there were zombies, there wouldn't be many!"

"Twenty kilometers? Walking isn't strange—even with heavy luggage, a day's enough!"

"Cough!" Zhang Su cleared his throat, silencing the murmurs around him. He reached for his collar, then remembered he hadn't brought a portable loudspeaker—these past days, he'd grown used to the gear, and now it was inconvenient.

He stepped forward two paces and called out loudly: "Shanhai District has only one major survivor camp, which has already absorbed all surrounding groups. Where did you come from?"

At these words, the group across the way wore strange expressions.

"To be honest, young sir, we… we escaped from the Longtou Camp."

Sun Yingui looked deeply troubled, eyes darting away, speaking of something hard to admit.

"Escaped?"

Zhang Su's doubts deepened—everything before him felt profoundly off. Escaped survivors holding children and women? Was this some kind of performance art? Another detail others might have missed—he noticed something wrong.

Their clothing clearly distinguished the captors from the captives, yet their mental states were identical—this shouldn't be the case.

"We're ashamed to admit it, but… a massive horde of corpses appeared beyond the border. The leader of Longtou Camp decided to have the warriors hold the walls. We… we had no choice but to flee!"

"You're deserters! Assholes, why even explain?"

Lu Yu bo suddenly jumped up and cursed.

The Yanluojuntuan members' gazes turned hostile—no one liked traitorous comrades.

Sun Yingui's group couldn't retaliate, silenced and deflated.

When the curses faded, Sun Yingui spoke again: "Honorable gentlemen, I believe you unite in times of crisis. We have two strong youths and five fertile women. Could you trade us food and weapons?"

The crowd fell silent.

Zhang Su's brow furrowed; behind his mirrored sunglasses, his eyes froze on the speaker. He wasn't outraged by the man treating youths and women as commodities—he was enraged by the man's first words.

It was moral blackmail, a blatant attempt to sow discord. He knew many of his companions would be distracted by the latter part—but he wouldn't miss the crucial detail.

Such people were detestable—easily dangerous! Bang! A single gunshot shattered the silence, startling nearly everyone; Yanluojuntuan members instinctively flinched away from the sound—but when they saw who fired, their hearts jolted.

Zhang Su held his rifle, a faint wisp of blue smoke drifting from the muzzle.

"Eh…"

Zhou Haotian let out a startled cry, staring in disbelief at the man shot—like he'd witnessed something impossible.

He'd spent years in the lab; since joining the Survivor Alliance's science division, he'd hardly left. He'd never killed a person, and even killing zombies happened in controlled lab conditions—safe, uneventful.

He'd never seen someone shoot without warning. The cold air tightened his bladder; his excited tissues couldn't hold back—he dripped urine. Sun Yingui was still assessing the situation when the trigger was pulled—he looked up, eyes wide with disbelief.

"Ah! Ah!"

"Old Sun! Old Sun!"

"You… you bastards, what are you doing…?"

In an instant, several men yanked weapons from their backpacks, ready to fight to the death! "I don't like how that man spoke—sneering, trying to turn us against each other. Send someone who can speak normally! And drop all your trash weapons—or I won't hesitate to kill every last one of you!"

Zhang Su spoke coldly.

He had no interest in fighting fellow humans with his fists—like earlier when he took down four bandits or judged nine criminals, those displays were for new recruits. When fighting alongside true brothers, there's no need for theatrics. Hearing Zhang Su's words, Yanluojuntuan members immediately raised their rifles and aimed. Deserters. Holding youths and women. Speaking without restraint. All these flaws together? Definitely not good people. (End of Chapter)