Chapter 264: Submission or Conquest

Zhang Su remained silent for a long time after hearing the middle-aged man's words. This information was simply too important to him!

He had considered using zombies for attacks—for instance, igniting them while driving them toward a designated area to deal a massive blow to the enemy—but he hadn't expected that zombies could be modified and used as a weapon. He had to admire the ingenuity of those people in the Azure Dragon Legion's peripheral squad.

Fu Weijun's research direction was to extract usable resources from zombies to further improve human survival chances, while the Azure Dragon Legion's research department was developing zombies toward weaponization.

Regardless of which one it was, they were all doing their utmost to adapt to the ecological environment of this new world.

Nowadays, the number of zombies worldwide was unimaginably vast, at least three to four billion. If there were a way to utilize them while clearing them out, it would indeed allow humanity to survive better.

"Eh, what will happen at the legion headquarters when your grain-collecting people don't return?"

Zhang Su mused on the future for a moment before asking about the most critical matter at hand.

The three of them exchanged glances, and the middle-aged man scratched his head and said, "Nothing like this has ever happened before, but I'm sure they'll send people out to investigate the situation."

"About how long until they send people out?"

Zhang Su asked.

"According to the original plan, we were supposed to return this afternoon. If we don't return on time, I estimate... they will send people out to investigate the situation by the day after tomorrow at the earliest. It might be a little later, but it definitely won't exceed three days. This task is usually assigned to the First and Second Squads!"

The dead Azure Dragon Legion members had been stripped bare shortly after the battle ended. Everything useful was tossed aside, but no communication equipment was found. The communication radio they had promised to bring had not materialized; their words were as worthless as a fart.

Zhang Su asked curiously.

The three of them looked at each other, their expressions awkward...

A strange look appeared on Xin Qi's face as he said, "Big Brother, even satellite phones don't work, so how could we possibly contact headquarters? Walkie-talkies only work near headquarters; beyond five kilometers, there's basically no hope!"

"The science department has two guesses about this, both quite imaginative. Do you want to hear them, Big Brother?" Xin Qi asked.

"Even satellite phones don't work? You have satellite phones... Right, the military should have them!"

The two people beside him spoke of their experiences one after another, their eyes revealing the most primal desire: the will to survive.

"The first guess is that an underground civilization intends to reclaim rule over the Earth's surface; the second guess is an alien civilization invasion... Anyway, I feel both are pretty ridiculous!"

Xin Qi spoke up: "Big Brother, stop joking. We only have one thought now: keeping our own lives is enough. Who the hell wants to go back to the Azure Dragon Legion? We only joined them because we were forced to; we aren't some war machines with ideological shackles..."

"Since no walkie-talkies were found on your squad leaders, do you not contact headquarters while out on missions?"

Zhang Su suddenly realized, then frowned. He thought of what Yu Wen and Fu Weijun had told him about the outbreak of the disaster, so he asked: "What guesses does your legion have regarding the outbreak of this disaster?"

"I'm different. I was originally fleeing outside when I ran into people from the legion who forced me to join them. Actually, I don't have any sense of belonging."

"Yeah, yeah, we were all living around Qingxian before. I fled to the legion because my camp was overrun by zombies. At first, I was ostracized quite a bit..."

Zhang Su was silent for a moment, then his eyes rolled, and he said with a strange expression: "You guys are quite cooperative, answering whatever is asked. You turned traitor pretty quickly. Are you not planning to return to the Azure Dragon Legion?"

The middle-aged man said solemnly, specifically pointing out the First and Second Squads, because the combat strength of these two squads was extremely strong. Although they were unwilling to admit it, they all knew that apart from the First and Second Squads, the other squads were a bit like making up the numbers.

"Speak!"

Zhang Su's eyes lit up slightly, and he pondered inwardly. The two seemingly strange guesses were actually very consistent with the current situation, and only a higher civilization could pull off such a dimensional strike!

Combined with the fact that satellites had been destroyed, he felt even more that this disaster had come from space, and while entering Earth, it had cleared out the satellites orbiting the planet along the way.

But the problem was, what was the point of doing this? If it were just a cleansing, there would be no need to go to such trouble, and humanity wouldn't go extinct just because of the spread of zombies!

There would be no answer to all of this, because everyone's understanding of the current disaster was still too superficial.

"By the way, did a Xidaying Village join your Azure Dragon Legion a few days ago, four or five days ago?"

After a long silence, Zhang Su suddenly remembered Ma Changshou and asked.

"Four or five days... Xidaying..."

Xin Qi thought for a moment and nodded: "Right, that did happen. There are quite a few people from that village, but it was quite shameful. Originally, some of them were going to be selected for the reserve squad, but their village chief sent a lot of supplies to the legion warehouse. I heard they arranged for everyone in their village to go to the logistics department!"

The combat department sounded very impressive, and the points for every mission were very high, which could be exchanged for various supplies upon returning to the legion. But behind this seemingly dashing lifestyle was licking blood from the edge of a knife; for example, this time, all three squads had been wiped out!

And the logistics department seemed bitter and tiring, but it had more guarantees regarding personal safety.

Zhang Su shook his head with a very strange expression after hearing this news. This was very much in line with the style of that old fox Ma Changshou. However, this was also good; at least he had acquaintances inside the Azure Dragon Legion. However, another person gave a different answer.

"Brother Xin is half right... May I add to that?"

Zhang Su nodded, signaling for the other person to speak.

"Xidaying Village did indeed bribe the higher-ups, but the matter was exposed in less than a day. The commander was very angry and had so many of them locked in two barracks, saying he would wait a few days before dealing with them."

Zhang Su couldn't help but laugh at this news. It was hard to imagine what kind of expression Ma Changshou would have. He actually hoped that Xidaying Village could gain a foothold in the barracks, which would be beneficial to his plan.

"Eh, I heard your camp has Type 99 tanks?"

Zhang Su suddenly remembered Liu Lei's words and asked curiously.

"That's right!" Xin Qi nodded hurriedly, likely trying to make up for his previous answer about Xidaying Village not being good enough, and added busily: "There are two Type 99 tanks, but they have nothing to do with us. Only core members and a few elite squad members can get near them."

"So it's true..."

Zhang Su's mind became even more active. He pondered for a while and asked: "Does anyone else inside the legion know our specific location?"

"Hmm... the few people who came to scout earlier should have reported the location of the southern safe camp," Xin Qi said with a complex expression.

"Alright, you guys stay here for now. Behave yourselves. I'll have someone send you some clothes in a while!"

"Bi, Big Brother..."

Seeing Zhang Su about to leave, Xin Qi hurriedly called out, pleading: "Ca, can we have some water? We're thirsty."

"You are prisoners of war now, understand? Can prisoners of war make demands? If it weren't for humanitarian concerns, I wouldn't even give you clothes!"

With that, Zhang Su turned and left the room. There was heating in the house, but it was only sixteen or seventeen degrees; if they stayed naked, he feared the three of them would die of hypothermia.

It was already past four in the morning, and the temperature outside was below zero, with not a sliver of light in the sky.

Many people in Tianmayu had barely slept all night. Zhang Su had slept a little earlier, but he still felt sleepy. He knew this matter was far from over, and time could not be delayed at all.

The Azure Dragon Legion was a ticking time bomb. If not handled well, it would bring great trouble, but he was very conflicted in his heart about how to handle it!

As he walked out of the room where the prisoners were held and closed the door, a long-lost subtitle suddenly popped into his mind, and his body froze on the spot.

【How to handle the Azure Dragon Legion: A. Conquest, B. Annihilation, C. Submission】

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 265 =====