Chapter 688: The Crisis from the South

“I can’t think of an effective way to deal with the horde—what about you?”

Duan Wuhu looked helplessly at the group, feeling a pang of shame—he had set out under the leader’s trust, yet when faced with an unsolvable problem, he was utterly at a loss.

The remaining dozen or so shook their heads, even Lightning in Shen Lin’s pocket shook its head, looking utterly dejected.

“Say no more—we’ve reached our limit… Let’s head back a bit, contact the leader, and ask how we should proceed!”

Duan Wuhu spread his hands wide and gave up—he truly couldn’t bear this burden.

No one spoke out; this was perfectly normal—if anyone could handle fifty thousand zombies, everyone could become a regional leader…

The survivors heading toward Shanhai and the remnants of Longtou Camp didn’t know that in Qincheng’s territory, they weren’t the only ones troubled by the horde—the horde wasn’t even the only one outside Shanhai! On the southern edge of Qincheng, the Nanhe International Entertainment Center, built beside a provincial forest park and facing the sea to the east, had once been renowned throughout neighboring provinces and cities, drawing many who came specifically to relax, vacation, or enjoy weekends—especially residents of Jingcheng, who favored it as their top seaside retreat.

The entertainment center fully leveraged natural elements—sea, sand, hills, and forests—to create leisure, sightseeing, fitness, and entertainment activities, forming a richly endowed coastal tourism and social hub.

It wasn’t just for family fun—it also hosted business receptions, offering highly diversified services.

The once-gleaming facilities still stood strong, but had long lost their luster, now coated in thick layers of dust from the apocalypse.

When the disaster broke out, the Nanhe International Entertainment Center was at the tail end of its peak season—fewer tourists than usual, but still not few.

That morning, the slaughter under the rising sun turned the seashore red…

The survivors inside the center who hadn’t turned were too weak to organize a cleanup or establish a camp; in the end, only two managed to escape alive—the rest died violently.

Several waves of survivors had come and settled around the scenic, well-equipped center, but all failed to hold their ground for various reasons—until the Iron Wall Safe Camp relocated here and finally found stability.

Today, the Nanhe International Entertainment Center welcomed its busiest day since the apocalypse.

After the recent snowfall, the Iron Wall Safe Camp had invited nearby survivor camps, essentially saying: it was time to band together for warmth.

Faced with the reinforced zombies, the isolated survivor factions still resisted stubbornly, believing they could hold out long enough to catch a breath.

Then came the nightmare from Putao Gou: the massive horde trapped in the mountain ravine had stirred!

Almost on the same day, survivor factions from Beihe, Funing County, and Changli gradually migrated to the Nanhe International Entertainment Center, now gathering over a thousand survivors! Even so, this was but a drop in the bucket—the two hotels surrounding the center, one luxury and one economy, could easily accommodate several thousand if packed tightly.

Not to mention the rest areas within the entertainment venues themselves. Outside, over thirty armed sentries could be seen; inside, people moved only occasionally, glimpsed through windows.

On the former observation deck built to monitor the offshore waters, guards now stood watch, peering southwest through high-powered binoculars.

As a proper entertainment venue, it couldn’t just offer recreation—luxury conference rooms were standard. In one exceptionally well-preserved conference room, over thirty people had gathered; ten sat around the table, the rest stood behind them as bodyguards.

Ten chairs, ten leaders—including one woman—each with a distinct aura, yet all without exception radiating formidable presence.

“After the third reinforcement, zombies enhanced by fire have seen terrifying boosts in combat power. Even if we can set traps to delay ignition, we know there are at least three mutated zombies among the horde—how do we solve this?”

A man in leather jacket and black-rimmed glasses spoke; from his words, it was clear these people understood zombies at least as well as Longtou Camp—they knew fire’s effect on zombies and the terror of mutated ones. A middle-aged man around fifty replied: “Mutated zombies react differently when ignited. We once encountered one that exploded into hallucinogenic dust—many of our brothers were fooled into killing each other; if rescue hadn’t arrived in time, we’d all be dead! The shockwave from yesterday’s explosion? Either a nuclear bomb or a mutated zombie. Who has a nuclear bomb now? The answer is obvious! We still don’t know if the blast originated in Qincheng or farther away—who could withstand that kind of power?”

“The horde has stirred and moved north. Right now, we and our brothers in Putao Gou and Steel Defense are the only ones delaying them—but this can’t last!”

“Everyone knows it won’t last—but using fire could cause unimaginable consequences. We must be cautious!”

“You guys who immediately shoot down the plan—how about using your brains and offering some ideas?”

“Killing isn’t the only way to deal with zombies—they were once trapped in the Putao Gou ravine. We can trap them somewhere else again!”

“It’s the exact same plan!”

“It’s freezing cold—even excavators can’t break frozen ground, and time is tight—we have at most a week. How do we do it? Come on, Dawn’s brother, explain!”

Inside the conference room, tension crackled; the leaders around the table voiced differing opinions—some radical, some cautious—each with a different stance.

The man at the head sat calm, with a mustache, the leader of Iron Wall Camp—the current master of the Nanhe International Entertainment Center: Zhao Linfeng.

Zhao Linfeng rested his chin on his hand, listening quietly as the discussion grew heated. He tapped his fingers on the table and said: “Calm down. We must discuss this calmly. Yesterday’s explosion may have claimed countless lives—we may already be the last survivors in all of Qincheng. No infighting. No fighting among ourselves!”

There were exactly ten leaders present, but Zhao Linfeng sat in the main seat not only because he was the local host, but because he possessed exceptional strength.

After relocating, Iron Wall Safe Camp kept its name, slowly absorbing survivors and steadily growing, leveraging the excellent conditions of the Nanhe International Entertainment Center to support its expansion—its population rose to over five hundred, the largest among all factions present.

More than the combined total of the three smallest factions—and its combat personnel outnumbered the combined forces of any three factions! Coupled with a batch of high-quality military equipment seized from the Beihe Military District, Iron Wall Safe Camp was unquestionably the dominant power among all factions south of Qincheng.

(End of Chapter)