Chapter 207: Strange Behavior

By evening, as the sky grew dark, Lu Yubo and Tan Huajun returned to Tianma Island, though their vehicle had changed from a van to a Tiguan.

"Damn, little brothers, you two are guilty of open corruption and bribery!"

Zhao Dezhu looked at the car, speechless. It wasn't exactly luxurious, but it was far better than the van; the air conditioning system alone was incomparable.

"Hehe! You think I'd let myself suffer on a trip like this? This is for the camp, you know, Dazhu."

Lu Yubo grinned.

"Su-ge, this is the situation Wang Longzhong recorded."

Tan Huajun hopped out of the car and fished a slip of paper from her pocket, handing it to Zhang Su as he walked over.

"Su-ge, I feel like Wang Longzhong is a bit too enthusiastic. Why would he be willing to let United Village become our subordinate?"

Lu Yubo scratched his head, feeling a bit confused.

"If you look at the problem from your own perspective, of course you won't understand. Wang Longzhong has to plan for the entire village!"

"Su-ge, Ma Changshou is looking for you!"

Zhang Su patted both of them on the shoulder and turned to head toward the Little Fortune Homestay.

"No way, Old Ma, is your West Camp running a hospital? Why is someone always getting sick!"

Zhang Su said as he walked aside with the walkie-talkie. "Hello, hello, Old Village Chief, what good news makes you think of me?"

Lu Yubo looked delighted.

Soon, Ma Changshou's voice came through: "Brother Zhang, I was wondering if I could trade for some more medicine. Do you still have any?"

"Su-ge, there's still something I need to tell you..."

"Fine, as long as it's not about going against us, it's easy to handle. There's some food left for you in the Little Fortune restaurant, go get some rest."

"So comfortable..." Tan Huajun opened her arms to feel the temperature, a happy smile blooming on her face.

Zhang Su took the slip of paper and tucked it into his pocket, then continued: "The appearance of the Azure Dragon Corps has made this 'internal' group, which isn't really internal, more united. By the way, what's the situation with those troublemakers?"

Zhang Su asked with a hint of amusement. They had only used medicine for those who were injured along the way, and then there was Yu Qing's flu at the very beginning; no one else had been sick, and minor headaches or fevers didn't require medicine.

"Damn, don't even mention it. A few small-fry dared to act cocky; one guy insisted on fighting me, so I went up and *crack-crack-crack* knocked him flat, and he begged for mercy on the spot. The other two idiots wanted to compete with Big Sister Tan in marksmanship. Half of United Village was watching—it was so embarrassing. All the big talk they'd bragged about before was completely shattered. Now, every single one of them is obedient!"

"Ma Changshou is looking for me? What does that old guy want now..."

"Ha, is the heating on?"

"There are a few elders in the village, advanced in age, with some old ailments. Please excuse us," Ma Changshou explained.

Tan Huajun still had some things to report. Zhang Su saw Zheng Xinyu rushing out of Little Fortune with a walkie-talkie, followed by Haoyun.

Lu Yubo found it funny when talking about the afternoon's experience.

"After you left this afternoon, Old Yu and Zhuzi took people to fire up the heating furnace. A pipe burst in one of the guest rooms at Wangshan Homestay, but all other rooms are fine."

Pushing the door open and walking into the restaurant, a wave of gentle heat rushed toward them, completely blocking the cold outside.

Zhang Su frowned and said to Tan Huajun, "Let's go, Old Tan, let's talk in the restaurant."

Zheng Xinyu ran up and handed the walkie-talkie to Zhang Su.

Zhang Su didn't dwell on it further and said, "I do have some medicine. It mainly depends on what you need. But Old Village Chief, what are you using to trade this time?"

"Pigs and sheep, grain and vegetables. Whatever I have that you need, just name it!"

"Oh?"

Facing Ma Changshou's words, a question mark appeared in Zhang Su's mind. He beckoned to Zhong Xiaoshan and said, "You report the names of the medicine you need first. I'll confirm the situation before deciding."

Immediately after, Ma Changshou reported a string of names, about a dozen types. Zhong Xiaoshan recorded them one by one, and then the call ended.

"That much medicine? According to the previous exchange ratio, wouldn't that empty out West Camp Village's granary?"

Guo Dachao asked with a frown.

Zhang Su smiled with the corners of his mouth curled up: "Pigs, sheep, grain, or vegetables—they are all too conspicuous. If they really decide to join the Azure Dragon Corps, and they bring those things, they might be confiscated the moment they step inside. It's better to trade for things that are highly concealable and difficult to obtain, which hold their value better!"

"Oh..." Zhao Dezhu realized: "They are preparing to run away!"

"Exactly. They have forty or fifty survivors there. In the current environment, migrating isn't easy. Bringing too much stuff is too risky. Hehe, since we know what that old guy is thinking, we can make a good profit!"

Zhang Su smiled quite cunningly, as if he had already thought of how to haggle with Ma Changshou. Suddenly, he remembered that Tan Huajun hadn't finished what she was saying, so he turned and asked, "Old Tan, what were you saying before?"

"That thing—Tan and I went to the abandoned quarry next to United Village. She thinks that place is a hidden danger!"

Lu Yubo interrupted.

Tan Huajun nodded and said, "That's right. There are too many zombies in that place. Unlike the zombies wandering around the village, which have a large space to move in, the zombies in the quarry are packed tightly together. If a stampede happens, it's very likely they'll climb up the slope..."

"Look."

Lu Yubo took out his phone; he had even taken a few photos carefully.

Zhang Su took the phone and looked at the photos. The situation in the quarry pit was exactly as Lu Yubo and Tan Huajun had described. He nodded slightly and said, "Your concerns are not unreasonable, and also... hmm?"

His extraordinary vision allowed him to spot something wrong in the photo. After zooming in repeatedly, he frowned: "Although it's a bit blurry, look, is this zombie eating something it's digging up from the ground?"

Everyone looked at the phone. The blurry image was unbearable to look at. After careful examination, there was still only a dry laugh.

"Su-ge, this... the image quality is so damaged, I can't see clearly."

"It's zoomed in too much. Try zooming out a bit. Hmm, no, it's even harder to see when zoomed out..."

Everyone was at a loss. Only Zhang Su, because of his special vision, could see clearly without losing image quality. It was indeed a zombie in the corner gnawing on something on the ground. As for what it was gnawing on, it was uncertain!

He restored the photo to its original size. After careful observation, he discovered that it wasn't an isolated case. The strange movements were clearly eating something, but what could there be in the quarry for it to eat?

Besides stone walls and plaster, there were only fellow zombies...

"Holy crap, Su-ge, you don't think the zombies are eating each other, do you?"

Lu Yubo recalled, proposing a chilling thought.

The scene went quiet, and everyone looked at each other.

"It's completely unclear what kind of mutations will occur if zombies are trapped in a quarry for a long time..."

Zhang Su frowned.

"Cannibalism happens from time to time in the animal kingdom. Perhaps... zombies also possess this instinct? In any case, this hidden danger at the United Village quarry needs to be resolved."

Yu Wen felt his scalp tingle seeing those densely packed zombies squeezed into the quarry pit.

Zhang Su nodded, not denying it. Looking at all the zombies in all the villages he had seen, only this quarry had the densest concentration. Who knew what kind of trouble they might cause!

"It was easy to throw the zombies down there at the beginning, but it won't be easy to kill them now. Using cold weapons at this distance is exhausting, and luring them up is hard to manage. Using guns would waste a lot of bullets, damn..."

Wang Xin looked at the photo with a wink, a flash of inspiration in his mind: "Why not burn them with fire? Burn them for a day, and I guarantee they'll all be wiped out!"

"Hehe..." Lu Yubo gave a dry laugh: "Did you forget the reaction of that zombie that was starved like an idiot after it was set on fire? The slope of this pit is only moderately steep. If the zombies run up under the stimulation of the fire, that would be a hell of a scene!"

No one had a more intuitive feeling than Lu Yubo. At that time, as the main target of the flaming zombie's attack, the pressure was too intense.

Everyone imagined the scene of thousands of flaming zombies running wild, and they all felt cold just thinking about it.

"That's not right..." Zhang Su frowned and scratched his head: "I'm supposed to be studying the issue of United Village's supplies and population, how did I end up worrying about the quarry zombies? We've made it through two months, a few days won't matter. After United Village migrates, we'll use a delayed device to set a fire and solve it easily! Let's go, everyone do your own thing. We've been busy all day."

After saying this, Zhang Su got up and left the restaurant, returning to his bedroom to quietly think about the development direction after the merger.

Before industry is restored, population is equivalent to productivity. But how to utilize, allocate, and manage them will all be challenges. He needs to plan these things out one by one.

He stayed busy until past ten o'clock at night before finally lying down on the bed under repeated urging to enjoy himself properly.

The next day, Zhong Xiaoshan organized all the medicine Ma Changshou needed. Except for one high-end imported medicine for treating blood clots that couldn't be found, everything else was there.

Zhang Su looked at the large bag of medicine and only took about a third of it. Moreover, he didn't intend to go to West Camp Village today. If you want to negotiate a good price, you must maintain the initiative. Letting the other party get anxious is one way to do it!

"Su-ge, Su-ge."

Just as Zhang Su was preparing to take people to the car to fetch supplies from Xiangzhuang as usual, Lu Leiyang ran to the car and called him.

"Hmm, what's up?"

Zhang Su looked at the slightly coy sissy. He had no temper left for this guy. Anyway, as long as he could work, kill zombies properly, and not stir up trouble, let him be effeminate...

"That... I see that everyone's hair is getting very long. When you guys go out, keep an eye out for haircutting scissors. Let me trim everyone's hair."

Lu Leiyang made a scissor shape with his hand, wearing a warm smile.

Setting aside his effeminacy, Lu Leiyang's smile was very healing. It was one of the few smiles in the camp full of sunshine. Zhang Su had rarely seen such a smile since the apocalypse.

"Is it very long?"

Zhang Su let out a long breath and smoothed his hair. It had changed from Akagi Takenori to Rukawa Kaede; it was indeed long...

"Fine. There was a barbershop in Niuquanzi Town before. We didn't go in at the time, haha. We'll bring it back for you!"

Because of Lu Leiyang's suggestion, Zhang Su changed his route and continued to sweep Niuquanzi Town. He believed that no one in this area had the energy to go to Xiangzhuang to fetch goods.

(End of chapter)