Chapter 654: Should Go Back Once

"One thirty-first, that explosion directly ignited..."

Shen Linrui repeated the key words Zhang Su had said, his eyes gradually regaining clarity.

"Sixty-six, it must be sixty-six!"

Suddenly, a companion behind Shen Linrui shouted in alarm and stamped his foot: "He’s the one who loves playing with zombies, damn idiot, total old sixty-six, fucking hell!"

Playing with zombies?

Zhang Su, Zhao Dechu, and the others exchanged glances; it seemed no place could escape the pervert.

"Wait, doesn’t your camp leader control this? This is just insane!"

Zhang Su found it absurd—he’d met crazy people before, but never anyone this crazy; it reminded him of those Absolute Justice bastards.

Shen Linrui weakly waved his hand, indicating he didn’t want to speak...

Another member of the Dragonhead Camp, slightly better off, said: "It’s like this—Yanluowang, Sixty-six was originally one of our scouts. Whenever he encountered small groups of zombies—three or five, maybe ten—he’d use vehicles and steel cables to tie them together, then set them on fire..."

Captain Shen had criticized him multiple times, but he never changed. Eventually, they demoted him from full member to probationary, barred him from outdoor missions, and he only calmed down a bit after that."

"Calm down? If he’d really calmed down, he wouldn’t have ended up like this."

Another man burned with rage.

"If he’d just stayed with us on outdoor missions and blown up zombies out there, at most a few would’ve died. Now look—how could one man cause this much damage? I’m fucking impressed!"

"Forget arguing for now—how many people are in your camp exactly?"

Yesterday afternoon, Zhang Su had planned to ask detailed questions about the Dragonhead Camp, but before he could, the explosion happened; now, only now, he brought it up again, making him feel uneasy inside—wondering if he’d triggered some keyword.

"We don’t know the exact number, only that it’s a bit over six hundred..."

Given Shen Linrui’s status, not knowing the exact number was normal; today, fewer than four members of Tianmayu knew the precise population.

Zhang Su and Yu Wen knew clearly, Li Zongkai understood as well, Yang Xin, who helped with registration, probably knew too; as for others—even those helping with records—none knew.

"Six hundred—that’s a lot..."

Zhang Su sighed; again, so many lives. If all of them could be recruited to Tianmayu, development would accelerate significantly—assuming peaceful recruitment and genuine willingness to join.

"Why don’t you ask again—did it confirm for sure? Are there any survivors left? Should we go rescue them?" Zhang Su pointed to Shen Linrui’s pocket.

"Yes, yes yes yes! Rescue! We have to go back and rescue them!"

Shen Linrui snapped out of his daze, spun around twice, but the darkness around him left him unable to tell direction.

"Don’t rush off—first, clarify the situation!"

Zhang Su grabbed Shen Linrui, who’d seemed so steady and composed before, but now, faced with major upheaval, he was panicking—better than most, but still far from adequate.

"Ask, I’ll ask!"

Shen Linrui gently pulled Lightning from his pocket, urgently saying: "Lightning, Lightning... wake up. Can you confirm everyone in the camp is dead? Could anyone still be alive? Did you check the ruins? Is... is there even any point in rescuing?"

As he asked, Shen Linrui felt a wave of exhaustion, his spine growing cold—he remembered the comrades who’d lured zombies away for them on the road yesterday, the smiles exchanged as they parted, now separated by life and death.

Lightning rubbed its tired eyelids, its eyes slowly turning, then gestured. "Gone. The whole camp is gone? At most... maybe only the brothers heading to Hulushi are still alive."

"Gone... what do you mean gone? Everything destroyed? Collapsed? Walls fallen?"

Zhang Su directly asked Lightning—he’d learned to understand seventy percent of “Lightning-speak” through observation.

Lightning waved its two front paws in rapid gestures; Zhang Su nodded as he watched, then asked Shen Linrui: "Does it mean the camp is gone—turned into a giant pit?"

"Yes..."

Shen Linrui recalled the giant pit he’d seen two kilometers north of Tianmayu yesterday afternoon—his heart went numb.

"Fuck. The whole camp is gone! How huge a pit is that... this explosion happened inside the city!"

Zhao Dechu couldn’t help muttering.

Yu Wen shot Zhao Dechu a warning glance—meaning, don’t speak out! Grape’s explosion was terrifying, but to obliterate an entire camp, the light sphere had to fully engulf it; otherwise, shockwaves alone could never carve out a pit! To engulf the whole camp, even a full-grown Slime Zombie’s explosion wouldn’t suffice unless it was right at the wall—or worse, right in the camp’s center.

"If the whole camp turned into a pit, how are you still alive?"

Zhang Su, puzzled, continued asking Lightning.

This question made everyone around suddenly freeze. Did Lightning not live in the camp? The answer came quickly: Lightning gave a very human-like scratch at its head, looking slightly embarrassed, then gestured again.

Shen Linrui translated: "It stored a lot of food in a cave. Yesterday, during the explosion, it was hauling supplies to the cave... that cave is four or five li from the camp—it was the escape route I arranged for Jiajia."

Zhang Su nodded in understanding. According to Shen Linrui, Jiajia was only thirteen or fourteen—such a little girl surviving in a camp of hundreds, even with Lightning’s help, must have lived on a knife’s edge; having a backup plan was only natural! He pictured a vivid scene: a hamster sprinting across the ground, backpack on its back, the animal itself invisible—like a ghost.

The other four all stared at Shen Linrui—they clearly hadn’t known about this.

"Captain Shen, should we... should we go back?"

"Of course we go back! Where else would we go? Are you an idiot?!"

"He’s got no ties in the camp, so he doesn’t care. Me? I want to go back and mourn my brothers!"

Shen Linrui said nothing, but the other four were resolute.

"Life is inherently unpredictable, especially in the apocalypse!" Zhang Su looked at the Dragonhead Camp members and said: "The journey back won’t be as smooth as coming here, but I think you should go back."

The five stared at Zhang Su strangely—they’d assumed he’d try to persuade them to stay, not urge them to return.

"Don’t look at me like that. I’m telling you to go back for my own reasons, not out of sympathy for you! First, I can guarantee the exploding zombie wasn’t from the large group that came from Hulushi—the timing and distance don’t match!"

Second, according to Captain Shen’s account, there are still comrades from Dragonhead Camp on missions outside. You must find them—or let them know you’re alive. Finally, even if Dragonhead Camp is gone, human civilization isn’t. As long as you carry sincerity, Tianmayu welcomes you!"

Zhang Su opened his arms to them and added: "Don’t answer me now. You’ve got a lot on your minds—prepare yourselves. I’ll send a few of my men to assist you, and also scout the Shanhai Zone and that zombie horde. You must cooperate fully!"

It wasn’t a request—it carried the weight of an order.

After he finished speaking, silence fell. Shen Linrui and the others felt inner turmoil, confusion, anxiety—like a war raging inside them, accompanied by profound helplessness.

They didn’t want to face the camp turned into a deep pit, yet a voice inside them echoed: they had to go back, had to see it once, to lay their burdens to rest...

(End of Chapter)