Chapter 233: Strike First

"Brother Zhang, we have a task on this trip. After we finish the task, let's reminisce!"

"What task? Hey, you blocked my way, and asked me if my surname is Zhang as soon as you came up. This task won't have anything to do

Zhang Su asked, feigning surprise.

Zhang Xin sniffed, took out a pack of cigarettes, and handed a few out. Turning his head, he saw Deputy Captain Yan and the rest of the group walking over. Knowing there was no way to brush this off, he had no choice but to speak.

"Brother Zhang, we came out this time mainly to hunt down a traitor in the Alliance. He abducted a very important research scientist, and our leader is furious, sending out five teams to search for him!"

After speaking, Zhang Xin smoked his cigarette nonchalantly, watching Zhang Su's expression through the smoke.

"Mission guaranteed to be completed!"

"Hmph!"

"Brother Zhang has always kept his word. Back then, a group tried to harm him, so he single-handedly lured over a hundred zombies to that group's gathering place. The zombies swallowed all the survivors in that camp alive, and he hacked to death the few who managed to escape. I advise you to behave yourself. I'll handle this matter; you just wait to collect your points!"

"Then thank you, Captain Zhang!"

Having said that, Zhang Su looked at Zhang Xin in a very provocative manner and said sarcastically, "Old Zhang, I have to say something to you. Look at how none of my subordinates dare to interrupt when I'm speaking. The way you're acting as captain, it's just not good enough!"

"What do you mean?"

Seeing this, Zhang Xin knew what the other party wanted to say, so he waved his hand impatiently and said, "The credit will include you, alright?"

A single sentence caused the atmosphere, which had just eased up, to tighten once again.

Old Yan, having gotten the chance to speak, immediately puffed himself up again, as if he had forgotten there was still a gun pointed at him.

Zhang Xin was astonished and asked, "Where did they go?"

"Damn it, this is a dead end!"

"Hey, Old Yan, I advise you not to move!" Seeing that Old Yan seemed about to blow his top, Zhang Xin quickly stopped him.

Zhang Xin finished speaking and waited for Old Yan to reply, but seeing him remain silent, he found it very strange. Suddenly, he realized this guy was being aimed at, and he couldn't help but chuckle: "Brother Zhang, have Fatty Sister put the gun away. Look at him, he's too scared to even speak, this isn't the way to do things!"

The role of points within the Survivor Alliance is very significant; everyone wants to earn more to make their lives more comfortable.

After hearing Zhang Su's words, Old Yan was very annoyed and wanted to draw his gun, but before he could make a move, he heard the sound of a bolt being pulled back. Looking up, he saw a chubby woman poking her head out of the RV window, holding an automatic rifle and aiming it at him!

Her movements looked a bit comical, like a large seal, but that pitch-black muzzle was real, and it had marks left from frequent firing. This was a well-maintained, frequently used firearm!

Zhang Su's facial expression was vivid and his story was clear; even if he were asked to repeat this matter again, it would be no problem. Nine truths mixed with one lie are the most deceptive.

"Just that scientist you mentioned who couldn't walk, the one wearing glasses, very refined. He said he wanted to go to Tang Cheng or Jingcheng or something, and even wanted us to escort him. It was complete bullshit. Later, I traded a gun with them for some canned food and sent them on their way."

Rat-tat, rat-tat...

Zhang Xin hadn't expected this result. He shook his hands and said, "Brother Zhang, tell me the truth, did those two really go in the direction of Jingcheng?"

Old Yan snorted angrily and glanced at the chubby woman stuck in the car window, feeling a surge of rage, but there was no time to dwell on this now; there were more important things to attend to.

"Long time no see, Boss Zhang." Tan Huajun didn't even move; a smile could be seen at the corner of her mouth, and her tone was just like greeting Zhang Xin when buying fruit at a shop.

In the car, Zhao De and Chen Hanzhou looked at each other and shrugged, indicating they knew nothing about this.

Zhang Su's brain worked at high speed. Combining the other party's series of behaviors, he judged that they must have collected scattered information at Xidaying Village. After a moment, he nodded and said, "I met them!"

??!!

The people from the Survivor Alliance were all stunned, not expecting the other party to be so straightforward.

Zhang Su dragged out the four words "not good enough," the sarcasm extremely intense.

"This..."

"Oh, isn't this my Fatty Sister from the gas station?"

Zhang Xin's expression turned serious, and he said earnestly, "That's right, we came out this time to catch a traitor, tall and sturdy, driving a Jinbei van. That research scientist has bad legs and can't walk. Have you seen them?"

"You damn..."

"Oh, let me introduce you first. This is the Deputy Captain of the Third Team of our Vanguard Regiment, Old Yan." Zhang Xin tilted his head toward Old Yan, then looked at him and said, "Old Yan, this is an old friend I met when the disaster first broke out. I'll handle this matter, you don't worry about it!"

Zhang Xin stomped his foot. If things were as Zhang Su said, there was simply no way to continue the investigation. Going any further north would mean entering Qingxian, and their small squad of ten people wouldn't dare to enter the city easily.

Zhang Su's attention was on the three people who had come over from behind, and he asked, "Who is the one who just spoke to me?"

A very strange expression appeared on Zhang Xin's face. Of course, he knew the other party wasn't really mocking him, but rather picking on Deputy Captain Yan. He couldn't help but want to laugh, yet felt incredibly awkward, pursing his lips and not knowing what to say.

Some decisions cannot be made by the captain alone; major missions must be decided by both the captain and the deputy captain together.

"Hehe, believe it or not, go see for yourself and the truth will be revealed. What, as an old acquaintance of our Captain Zhang, is Mr. Zhang reluctant to invite an old friend to your place for a cup of tea?"

Rat-tat!

Zhang Xin frowned in a dilemma, stepped forward, leaned close to Zhang Su's ear, and whispered, "You've seen it too, some things really aren't up to me alone. Do me a favor, take me to your place for a tour just to go through the motions. Our Alliance has no interest in the big farming villages to the north and won't cause trouble at your place."

Zhang Su's thoughts were verified. The ten-man squad in front of him was indeed divided into two factions as he had thought. Factionalism is normal, but he hadn't expected the internal struggle within such a small squad to be so intense, nor had he expected Zhang Xin's ability to lie to be so damn strong!

In his mind, Qingxian was either crawling with zombies or already occupied by a faction; neither was convenient!

After understanding the situation, Zhang Xin sighed, turned his head to look at Old Yan, who was standing to the side with a livid face, and said, "You heard it all. I don't think there's any need to continue the pursuit in this situation. Let's go back and report the news first, and see what the leader says!"

"Left?"

Tan Huajun's chubby body was wedged in the window, her feet hooked on the edge of the sofa, quite stable.

"Stop trying to sow discord here! Our internal Alliance affairs are not for an outsider like you to criticize! You'd better... just die!"

Zhang Xin frowned. After meeting Zhang Su, he had already started to back down, wanting to brush things off. Not wanting to make an enemy of Zhang Su was one thing, but this mission was already very repulsive. If it weren't for Old Yan constantly watching him, he would have long since taken his brothers to loot supplies in some random village!

Five teams searching together—who would know if they were just going through the motions?

"Does Deputy Captain Yan not believe what I said?"

Zhang Su pointed in the direction of Xidaying Village and spoke eloquently.

"Captain Zhang, we can't just listen to what people say. I think we should at least go to this Mr. Zhang's camp to take a look, don't you think?"

Through a few simple sentences and observation, Zhang Su had already grasped a lot of information. He glanced subtly at the ten people, and from the subtle expressions and eyes of each person, he became even more certain of his thoughts, finally fixing his gaze on Old Yan.

"Brother Zhang..."

Zhang Su nodded, but didn't let Tan Huajun put the gun away.

He didn't blurt out the matter of Xidaying Village right away.

When mentioning factions, Zhang Su could clearly feel the positions of the ten people opposite him shift. Five leaned toward Zhang Xin, two followed behind Old Yan, and only one stood in place with a withered expression, belonging to the very foolish neutral faction.

Seeing Zhang Xin's conflicted face, Zhang Su could completely guess his thoughts. A subtle tacit understanding formed between the two, and he took over the conversation.

A simple sentence immediately changed the way everyone else in the Survivor Alliance looked at Zhang Su. Is this guy a lunatic?

Old Yan's face sank. He held his submachine gun, not knowing whether to raise it or not. His two subordinates behind him had their hands on their waists, also not knowing whether they should draw their guns. The scene fell into a stalemate.

"I'm just puzzled..." Zhang Su looked at Zhang Xin with a strange expression and said, "Old Zhang, who actually calls the shots in this team, you or him? Don't tell me your tiny ten-man squad is actually divided into factions?"

Zhang Su pinched the bridge of his nose and said in bewilderment, "Old Zhang, is being a captain like this fun for you? If you don't get rid of someone like this, aren't they an eyesore to keep around?"

"Didn't you just want to talk to the person in charge? Why let the others come down too? Blabbering on and on, don't you see I'm talking to your captain? Where did a deputy captain like you get the nerve to run your mouth?"

"Fine, you speak!"

However, just as Old Yan intended to dodge and raise his hand to shoot Zhang Su, two blood arrows spurted out from the back of his head. With deep disbelief in his eyes, the last thought frozen in his mind was: how is that fat woman's marksmanship so accurate?

At the same time, Zhang Su extremely keenly turned the rifle on his shoulder to the front, the rifle, which had long since had its safety off, in a state ready to fire at any moment.

On the surface, Zhang Xin is the captain and Old Yan is the deputy captain, but this is merely a means of checks and balances within the Survivor Alliance—mutual supervision and mutual restraint to allow for better management.

Zhang Su looked at Zhang Xin with an expression that said "don't ask if you don't believe me," and said, "How would I know? After they left my place, they headed north. God knows where they're going... I don't care if they go to the Russian lands."

Zhang Su pointed at the livid Old Yan very unceremoniously, leaving no room for maneuver.

Zhang Xin hadn't expected to meet two acquaintances at once. He had almost forgotten about Tan Huajun. Seeing her standard gun-aiming posture now, he couldn't help but feel emotional. A character he didn't even need to look at directly before was now being used to smooth things over through small talk.

Zhang Xin was still thinking about how to negotiate after Zhang Su's denial, but the other party had already admitted it.

"That... Brother Zhang, where are those two now?"

Old Yan suddenly sensed a signal of danger, feeling that if he continued to talk, he might end up dead here, so he decided to strike first.

Old Yan replied in a flat tone, then his gaze swept across Zhang Su's face, glanced at the rifle on his shoulder, and then pointed to the RV: "Why are your people unwilling to come down? Do you look down on our Survivor Alliance?"

In the car, Chen Hanzhou and Zhao De looked at each other with strange expressions, thinking their memories were wrong.

"You! You damn!"

Hearing this, Old Yan's already foul face turned as cold as frost.

"Old Tan, from now on, when I'm talking to Old Zhang, I don't want to hear his voice. You just aim at this Deputy Captain Yan. If he dares to pull anything, blow him away!"

"Cough... heroes don't mention past bravery. Old Zhang, what traitor were you talking about just now?"

"I don't worry about it?"

"The tall and sturdy traitor you mentioned is a neighbor who lived in the same residential complex and unit as me. I saw them being stopped on the Haihe Bridge before, so I helped him out. Later, we exchanged some supplies, and they left."

Rat-tat...

Zhang Su opened fire, and Tan Huajun continued to fire single shots.

Before the two subordinates behind Old Yan could draw their pistols, their eyes were already staring blankly in disbelief, two shocking blood holes in their foreheads, exactly the same as their boss's state of death!

(End of chapter)