Chapter 262

"I didn't expect Tianmayu to gather such a ruthless bunch of survivors..."

As the vehicle drove slowly forward, Gong Chengming looked back at the mountain, feeling moved.

Everyone in the car fell silent. They belonged to the Survivor Alliance's elite team, but at this moment, they couldn't say anything disparaging or mocking. The fierce battle had happened not long ago; they had heard the violent explosions clearly, and combined with all those corpses, they could judge the capability of the Tianmayu survivor team from the side.

Gong Chengming turned his head back, changed the subject, and smiled: "However, that kid working just now was a bit slow; he didn't look very smart."

"Regiment Leader, was there something wrong with the cigarettes you gave him?"

A team member asked curiously.

Gong Chengming revealed a mysterious smile and shook his head: "There was nothing wrong with the cigarettes, but that person has a good relationship with their leader. Getting close to a foolish guy with connections—if there's a chance to recruit them, it could serve as a breakthrough."

There was nothing wrong with the cigarettes themselves, but the act of giving them had meaning. It was just a pity that Lu Yubo didn't realize it at all. If Gong Chengming knew his kindness was being treated as a donkey's lung, he would probably be very depressed.

"Does the Regiment Leader have thoughts of bringing them into the Alliance?"

"Brother Su..." Zhao Xue saw Zhang Su, walked up to him, and pointed to a house in the distance: "There's some movement over at Su Xiaoya's side; she seems quite frightened. Do you want to talk to her?"

Another member asked in astonishment.

After returning to the Alliance last time, he had thought a lot. While it was comfortable in the Survivor Alliance—with warmth, soft beds, food, and drink—his status was low, and he was nothing more than a leader of cannon fodder. The feeling of walking on thin ice was very uncomfortable.

The driver asked in confusion: "Are we not chasing Dr. Fu and the others anymore?"

At Tianmayu, Zhang Su didn't know the many thoughts of Gong Chengming and Zhang Xin. In any case, getting rid of the Survivor Alliance was enough. He carried the submachine gun toward the small courtyard where the captives were held, running into a hurried Zhao Xue on the way.

Zhang Xin didn't mention the mission, but instead painted a picture for his subordinates.

Without needing Zhang Xin to answer, someone immediately explained for him.

Gong Chengming had people turn left to head back to Qincheng.

"After this trip back, our team will definitely be reorganized. If you have friends in other teams or logistics departments, make arrangements as soon as possible and try to pull them into our team. As long as you listen to me, I'll lead you to live comfortably in the future!"

Zhang Xin leaned back listlessly, rolling his eyes. He had been under immense psychological pressure on this trip, ready to take action at any moment—but not against Zhang Su, but against the team Gong Chengming had brought!

"Are you stupid? With Regiment Leader Gong taking the lead on this trip, what does it have to do with us!"

"Team Leader Zhang, do you think the leader will still give us trouble when we get back?"

Since the core leadership had spoken, the other members also breathed a sigh of relief. Anyway, they didn't have to be the ones to shoulder the burden with the leader.

Just running into a group of survivors by chance and finding them so fierce—heaven knows what kind of enemies they would encounter if they kept chasing. The outside was not like the base camp in downtown Qincheng; it was better to go back quickly!

"Finally, damn it, it's over..."

"It's not time yet, let's go back first!"

In the car Zhang Xin was riding in, the four of them followed the vehicle in front toward Qincheng. The few of them looked at each other and all let out a heavy sigh of relief.

If there really was a chance, they intended to join Zhang Su's command. It might be a bit boring, but their lives would be more secure.

"It's been so long; if the roads were clear, they would have already escaped to Cheng City. Let it be!"

The others in the same car all showed grave expressions.

Survival competition in the apocalypse was cruel. Although they hadn't fought with the people of Tianmayu, they didn't dare to underestimate them at all. Regardless of whether they would join the Alliance, if they really brought such a pack of wolves and tigers into the organization, where would their elite squad end up?

Su Xiaoya had been locked in a room, but she could see the battle in the parking lot through the window. Precisely because of this, her little face had turned green with fear. People were falling like wheat being harvested, and there was the terrifying Zero-Zero-Three showing off its blade-slashing prowess on living people!

Where had she ever seen such scenes? She hid in the pitch-black room, shivering, terrified that she would be killed in the next second. She had even bitten her lips until they bled, regretting deeply that she had agreed to the village chief's request to come here as an undercover agent.

Zhang Su reached out and wiped the bloodstains from the corner of Zhao Xue's mouth, saying, "Why are you still running around? You need to rest and take care of your internal injuries!"

The intimate action made Zhao Xue turn her head away in a dodging manner, and she smiled unnaturally: "It's not that serious. I see there's a lot to do, so I'm just helping out."

Zhang Su looked at the guest room where Su Xiaoya was being held and said, "What's there to talk about with a little girl like her? If we're going to talk, we talk to the boss of Kuanzhuang. That's it, I'm going to find the captives to get some information. You hurry up and rest; a wounded person should have the awareness of a wounded person."

"Mm... okay."

Zhao Xue tilted her head and didn't say much. Watching Zhang Su's departing back, a faint smile curled at the corners of her mouth.

Zhang Su arrived at the small courtyard where the captives were held and saw Chen Hanzhou guarding the door.

"Hmm? You're fine even like this?"

Zhang Su walked up to Chen Hanzhou and pointed at his stomach in surprise.

He hadn't looked closely earlier due to the chaos, but observing from a close distance now, Zhang Su discovered bullet holes on Chen Hanzhou's clothes over his stomach. It was clear he had been shot, but he was jumping around now; it must have been the special ability that took effect!

Chen Hanzhou touched his little belly. He was unlucky; the spot where he was shot was right next to the petrified skin on his chest, hitting near his belly button...

He pulled off the fisherman's hat made of petrified skin and said with a strange but very excited expression: "It hurts, Brother Su, it hurts a lot, but the repair speed is very fast—it's almost catching up to the T-1000!"

Zhang Su touched his nose. He wasn't as excited as Chen Hanzhou; in his view, such rapid repair would likely carry certain negative effects.

He asked with concern: "Do you have any special feelings?"

"Just that my body feels hot, and the wound area is even hotter. Nothing else. It doesn't affect anything, and I can even get free heating, hehe. But it'll pass in a while." Chen Hanzhou told Zhang Su his feelings truthfully.

Zhang Su nodded. When Chen Hanzhou woke up after his arm was severed, he had also had a high fever for a while; perhaps this was the manifestation of the zombie robot "working" inside the human body.

He patted Chen Hanzhou on the shoulder and said, "This ability is pretty cool, but you should still be careful. Avoid getting hurt as much as possible; we don't know if there will be any aftereffects. Besides, this hat of yours is really damn ugly..."

After saying this, Zhang Su pushed the door open and walked into the house.

The three captives had been stripped down to their underwear and thrown into a corner, bound in various ways. They wouldn't be able to escape even if they grew wings!

Seeing Zhang Su walk into the room carrying a submachine gun, the three of them were filled with terror. Because their mouths were taped shut, they could only make "woo-woo-woo" sounds, their bodies twisting toward the corner, looking very uncomfortable.

"Stop the damn whimpering. I have questions to ask now. Who wants to answer?"

"Woo-woo-woo."

"Woo-woo!"

"Ah-ah-woo..."

The three of them scrambled to nod frantically, so excited they almost jumped up, guessing this was a chance to live and trying desperately to grab it.

Zhang Su looked at the youngest one, walked in front of him, and ripped the tape off his mouth with a *zzzt* sound, saying, "You answer!"

"Woo-woo... it hurts, it hurts, it hurts! Okay, I'll answer, I'll definitely answer well and strive for lenient treatment."

The tape being ripped off the young man's mouth took some hair with it, making him wince in pain. It was clear that the area where the tape had been was red...

"Woo-woo."

The two people on the side had red eyes. Having their only chance taken away made them very unwilling. They made "ee-ee-ah-ah" sounds, kowtowing non-stop and trying desperately to compete.

"Stop yelling, or I'll kill you."

Zhang Su was indifferent to their behavior.

There was no need to use violence. The two of them remembered how decisive this man had been in reaping lives earlier, so they quickly shut their mouths and leaned against the wall, not moving a muscle.

"What's your name?" Zhang Su asked the young man.

"Hello, big brother. My name is Xin Qi. 'Xin' as in hardship, 'Qi' as in strange."

The young man didn't look very old, twenty-four or twenty-five at most. He had a dog-chewed buzz cut, probably cut just a few days ago, and he knelt on the ground very honestly.

"That name is indeed quite strange..." Zhang Su muttered, then continued: "Come on, tell me about your Corps. If he says something wrong, you two can speak up to supplement. Do you hear me?"

Zhang Su looked at the two in the corner.

Upon hearing this, the two realized their chance had come and nodded vigorously to show they understood.

"Bi-big brother, I will definitely tell you everything, but... what aspect of the situation do you want to know about?" Xin Qi asked tentatively.

"Start with your Corps' personnel configuration." Zhang Su sat to the side, watching Xin Qi with composure.

Xin Qi licked his pale lips and thought: "Uh, let me think... The Corps is generally divided into four departments: the Combat Department, the Logistics Department, the Administrative Department, and the Science Department. There are also some idle personnel—people who joined the Corps but haven't been assigned yet, usually managed temporarily by the Administrative Department."

Zhang Su nodded silently. Those survivor bases with large populations had formed relatively complete division-of-labor systems. His side currently only had simple divisions; it worked well when the number of people was small, but as the camp population increased, a more explicit system for allocating personnel would be necessary in the future.

"Let's talk about the Combat Department first. By the way, how many people are in your Corps in total?"

"How many people?" Xin Qi rolled his eyes and thought, then looked at his two companions, unsure: "Two hundred? No, more than that. Three or four hundred. I don't know the exact number, but I know the Combat Department has ten squads, totaling one hundred people!"

Zhang Su understood. He thought to himself that the Azure Dragon Corps and the Survivor Alliance had the same combat unit structure, both divided into groups of ten. This number could complete basic tactical coordination, and the requirements for command weren't too high.

"Listening to what your team leader said earlier, does each team have different functions?"

"Yes, that's right."

Xin Qi nodded: "The first and second teams are core elite teams with the best personal abilities and equipment. The third, fourth, fifth, and sixth belong to the backbone force. The seventh and eighth teams have slightly weaker combat power and are generally responsible for scavenging supplies and patrol work. The ninth and tenth teams are reserves, mainly responsible for peripheral patrols and security within the barracks."

(End of chapter)