Chapter 434: Must be thoroughly eradicated

With no traffic laws to restrain him, Qi Xiaoshuai floored the accelerator. He raced all the way to Xidaying Village on the main road, taking just over five minutes—mostly because some time was wasted on the potholed sections.

The atmosphere of past life still lingered in the village. Ma Changshou had led his people away in such a hurry that some items that should have been taken were left scattered on the road at the village entrance, recording the tension of that moment.

Two zombies emerged from somewhere, swaying as they walked along the village road. A cold wind swept through, kicking up dust that slapped against the zombies; the entire scene appeared extremely desolate and eerie.

"Damn, if this were back in the day, we could apply for the Guinness World Record for the scariest village on Earth!"

Qi Xiaoshuai grumbled while hiding the vehicle. If Zheng Xinyu had seen this maneuver, she would surely have realized that this guy must play PUBG often. He then grabbed a steel rebar club, stepped out of the car, and took down the two zombies.

After eliminating the danger, he found a relatively tall house and climbed the stairs to the roof. The view was excellent; the Chu Haihe Bridge was clearly visible, and with binoculars, he could even see the situation on the North Second Ring Road.

"Heh, this must have been the sentry post for Xidaying Village before."

Qi Xiaoshuai discovered the corner was piled with cigarette butts, and a brass gong lay on the ground. A dusty, broken sofa looked very lonely. He patted it casually, kicking up a cloud of dust, and sat down on it, raising his binoculars to look into the distance.

"A cup of milk tea would be perfect right now. If I had a phone to play games on, I wouldn't even care if someone was rushing my order..."

Snuggled comfortably into the sofa, watching the bleak scenery in the distance, Qi Xiaoshuai couldn't help but feel relaxed. Life in the apocalypse was either filled with life-threatening dangers or was dull and tedious; finding a moment of comfort was truly rare. It was just a pity that this state was hard to maintain.

When he turned his neck to look from west to east, his expression stiffened! Far to the west on the North Second Ring Road—the very road they had come from—shadows of vehicles appeared. And it wasn't just one; at a glance, there were at least seven or eight, if not more.

"Holy crap, Brother Su is a genius!"

Before he could see the vehicles clearly, Qi Xiaoshuai hurriedly grabbed the walkie-talkie: "Brother Su, Brother Su, we have a situation. A large number of vehicles have appeared on the North Second Ring Road, at least twenty or thirty of them, coming from the east. I repeat..."

While speaking into the walkie-talkie, Qi Xiaoshuai kept his eyes on the vehicles. Even from several kilometers away, he could feel their breakneck speed; they were doing at least 140 km/h, no slower than the speed he had traveled to Xidaying Village earlier. They were quickly approaching the intersection of Provincial Road 52 and the North Second Ring Road.

"Received. Your job is done. Hide the car and hunker down in the village. If anyone enters the village, kill them if you're confident; if not, hide. If all else fails, call for help!"

Zhang Su's icy voice came back.

"Understood!"

Qi Xiaoshuai naturally didn't dare to sit openly on the roof anymore. He crouched down, snuck downstairs, and found an extremely narrow vantage point to watch the main road.

Back at Zhang Su's side, many people were looking at him with strange expressions, as if to say, "Were you a fortune teller before?"

"Don't look at me like that. All is fair in war. I've seen more treacherous dogs in business, so I could guess some of Liao Youzhi's thoughts. Since they're here, today's show will be spectacular..."

Originally, Zhang Su hadn't been sure if the other side would come, or if they would only send a small delegation, because if it were him, he certainly wouldn't dare to go to the opponent's headquarters with such fanfare. His previous talk of "delivering the goods" was just a bluff. If it really came to that, he would definitely sneak into the village, no guns firing! He hadn't expected Liao Youzhi to be so bold, bringing over a hundred people (judging by the number of vehicles). It seemed he intended to settle this matter once and for all. That was fine; it would save him the trouble of racking his brains later.

As his voice fell, another walkie-talkie in Zhang Su's backpack rang. It was Zhang Xin speaking.

"Brother Zhang, Brother Zhang! We are rushing toward you. Damn it, Liao Youzhi is acting like a madman, demanding all vehicles maintain a speed of 140 km/h. Damn, I don't know what he's planning. Be careful!"

The voice on the walkie-talkie was very low, so low that only Zhang Su could hear it. While listening to Zhang Xin, he kept his attention on the other walkie-talkie—the one Xiao Xuejian had given him.

He hoped Gong Chengming would contact him, but unfortunately, there was no movement at all. This revealed some bad information, or at least something worth being cautious about.

Immediately after, the communicator in Wu Daqiang's hand rang. Unsurprisingly, it was Liao Youzhi's voice.

"Zhang Su, you should be listening! Determining a meeting place is really troublesome. I have my views, and he has his reasons. But fortunately, we've decided on it. Let's meet at a town not far from Tianmayu called Beidong Town. Any problems?"

"Haha..."

"Holy crap, this guy... he's a genius!"

"What a coincidence!" Upon hearing Liao Youzhi's words, many people laughed out loud on the spot. Liao Youzhi had calculated everything, only to calculate his way right to the gates of Hell. Unbelievable.

Zhang Su couldn't help but laugh too. He really wanted to know who came up with this idea. What a damn genius!

He really couldn't have guessed that the idea for this "genius" decision was Gong Chengming's scheme. Of course, Gong Chengming hadn't considered that Tianmayu would set an ambush in Beidong Town; he was thinking more about his own interests.

"Yama Legion, get ready to receive guests!"

Zhang Su patted his cold cheeks and waved to the crowd. Everyone moved in unison, and he walked toward a vehicle.

The tank driver had already been replaced by Pan Guoliang. He was the driver, the tank commander, and the gunner!

"Beidong Town, is it? Fine. Then hurry up; I can be there in fifteen minutes!" Zhang Su said to Liao Youzhi.

"Time isn't the key, Zhang Su. I heard there's a particularly broken road in Beidong Town. For the safety of both sides, I propose you stay at the north end of the broken road, and I'll stay at the south end, with some distance between us. We can talk when we meet. How about that?"

Liao Youzhi looked at the mess on the Chu Haihe Bridge, his speech unhurried. By the time this was settled, he estimated his convoy would have already reached Beidong Town.

"How come you people decide everything? Setting the place, setting the way we talk. Were you a government official like Old Li before? You love planning so much?"

Zhang Su jumped into the passenger seat, and the car shot out with a lurch. In the distance, Pan Guoliang had already started the tank, but he was heading in a different direction than the others, driving across the fallow fields toward Beidong Town. A tank could traverse terrain that ordinary cars could not.

If the goal was merely intimidation, the Type 99 main battle tank should be displayed openly, but if the intent was to kill, it had to be kept hidden.

In the Escalade, Li Zongkai couldn't help but twitch his eyelids upon hearing Zhang Su's teasing.

Liao Youzhi curled his lips into a sneer and continued, "That's right, it's the plan proposed by Li Zongkai. This is actually to protect you. Liu Yao, the leader of the Little Eagle Society, has a hair-trigger temper; he's already gone berserk knowing his men were wiped out by you. If you don't want a conflict to erupt, I suggest you accept our plan!"

Clang.

With a jolt, the vehicle drove onto the highway. Once it stabilized, Zhang Su pressed the talk button: "You'd better advise him not to go berserk; it's easy to drop dead in this cold weather. However, the plan isn't bad, so I'll reluctantly accept it. You'd better hurry—I don't have the patience to wait in this freezing cold!"

After saying this, the car stopped behind the road block on the north side of Beidong Town, just a step away. You want to be fast? I'm faster than you.

A grave expression crossed Zheng Xin's face as she said, "Isn't it enough to have Ju Wuying escort the hostages to carry out the plan? Why do you have to risk your own life... Or, let Tan Hua go up to the roof now to lie in ambush; wouldn't it be simpler to just blow Liao Youzhi away with a long-range shot? If that doesn't work, there's still the tank—give them a couple of shells!"

Ever since Zhang Su laid out the overall plan, Zheng Xin had been worried. Disguising himself as a hostage to go deep into enemy territory—no one could stay calm about that.

Zhang Su shrugged nonchalantly and said, "You're wrong. The one truly bearing the danger is Zhu Zi; I'm actually safer hiding in the shadows. Ju Wuying is formidable, but she isn't enough on her own. We must wipe out the opposition with thunderous force to quell this battle in the shortest possible time!"

"Once someone opens fire, the situation will spiral out of control. That's not the result I want to see, unless Old Li and his men can safely make it to our side; then it would be convenient to take out the rest in one fell swoop..."

"Besides, you know me—how could I let others do all this work while I just sit back? I must participate. Now is the time to consolidate our reputation. Yu Wen has been building momentum for me lately; you should have felt it. There are some things I am duty-bound to handle!"

Zhang Su tapped his fingers lightly on the door armrest. His heart was calm; he wasn't nervous about the upcoming events. All this confidence stemmed from his understanding of his own strength.

The peaceful negotiation between the two sides was merely a facade; murderous intent was bound to be hidden behind it. Regardless of what Liao Youzhi was thinking, this meeting had to completely eradicate the hidden threat.

Using pre-placed bombs was the best plan, but since Li Zongkai and the Guardians of Civilization were present, it was impossible to let them go up in flames together. Killing wasn't the goal; solving the root of the problem was the key!

And the root of the problem was Liao Youzhi, or to extend it, Liao Youzhi's entire faction! That was why Zhang Su proposed the decapitation plan.

The tank and the bombs had become non-essential means to stifle large-scale conflict. They wouldn't be used unless absolutely necessary. Once the explosion button was pressed or a shell was fired, it would be a catastrophe! (End of chapter)