Chapter 616: Bang—a single shot!

Walking one kilometer takes about ten minutes; with both sides walking toward each other, the four or five-kilometer distance would take about twenty minutes!

"Wait... are they running toward us?"

Less than five minutes after the Yama Legion had set out, having advanced about five hundred meters, someone said, "Looks like it!"

Wang Xin aimed while walking forward; as the distance shortened, he could see more clearly.

"Twenty-six people in total. Two half-grown boys a bit smaller than Da Kun, and five women who look like they're being held hostage by the people behind them. This group is trouble!"

Zhang Su looked through the scope with a professional air, though in reality, he had already taken in the entire situation. Still, he had many doubts in his heart.

"Huh? Holding children and women hostage? What are they trying to do?"

Yu Qing asked, deeply puzzled. Her inner kindness had not vanished, and she still cared about vulnerable groups, though she was sharper than before.

"They wouldn't be stupid enough to use the lives of children and women to threaten us into giving them supplies, would they?"

Chen Hanzhou's expression was somewhat strange.

As soon as this was said, a chorus of strange sounds arose all around. Even in the former civilized world, it was hard to threaten ordinary people this way, let alone now.

Zhang Su put away his smile and said flatly, "They couldn't be that stupid... otherwise, they wouldn't have survived until today."

Everyone felt Zhang Su was right, but they truly couldn't guess what use these people had for holding children and women hostage.

One could say women could serve as logistics personnel in the apocalypse, or be sent to places like the Pleasure Den to relieve the mental stress of combatants, but what was the use of children? The flowers of the future?

While they were talking, the distance between the two sides closed again to about one kilometer. With the naked eye, they could see several people on the other side raising their hands, then more and more people raised their hands, and in the end, even those being held hostage raised their hands together.

The signal of friendliness was obvious.

"Yo, did they surrender in advance?"

"We have about the same number of people as them. It's a bit far, but it's not strange to have binoculars. We're holding guns so obviously, isn't it normal for them to surrender?"

"That's true, oh."

Zhang Su heard the people around him discussing it, but he had a different opinion: "How many times have I said it? Don't be so arrogant, don't be so arrogant. Every survivor who has managed to live until now must have some extraordinary qualities. Never let your guard down!"

"Uh..."

After being scolded by Zhang Su, the group immediately fell silent.

"Stop, wait right here!"

Zhang Su clenched his fist, and everyone stopped in their tracks. He turned his head and discovered that from this angle, he could actually see a bit of the arch of the Haihe Bridge.

About seven or eight minutes later, the panting people finally arrived within a hundred meters. Now, everyone could clearly see their condition.

The group's attire was still decent; they all had well-fitting down jackets—of course, the children and women being held hostage didn't count.

Their luggage looked somewhat sloppy; tattered backpacks hung on them, several sturdy suitcases were weathered, and some had modified handcarts loaded with all sorts of miscellaneous items.

From the population count and the state of their supplies, it was clear this was a group of survivors in the middle of a migration.

At a glance, no firearms were visible, but it was certain these people must be carrying weapons. Survivors who could live until now without firearms were already very rare.

Bang, bang!

When Zhang Su estimated the other side had approached to fifty or sixty meters, he pulled the trigger twice, firing toward the wilderness.

There was no need to shout; the warning effect of those two shots was quite good. The approaching crowd immediately braked and stood in place, and many even subconsciously shrank their necks.

There was no special reason for this distance; it was mainly so Zhang Su could hear the whispering within the other team.

"Masters, Masters!"

A man in his forties with his hands held high, wearing a Lei Feng hat, spoke up, using a local Qincheng accent to introduce himself.

"Masters in front, we are survivors from the Shanhai District. My name is Sun Yingui. I'm leading the fellow villagers through here. We have no malicious intent, please put away your weapons!"?? Everyone looked at each other in dismay.

"Shanhai District? Damn, that's not close from Shanhai District to here. They just walked here on foot? No zombies along the way?"

"You have to say, the wisdom of the people is high. The railway line itself is relatively quiet. After such a long time, even if there are zombies, there aren't many!"

"But it's twenty kilometers. It's not strange to walk here. Even if there's a lot of luggage, one day is enough!"

"Ahem!" Zhang Su coughed, stopping the discussion among his people. He touched his collar, only then remembering he hadn't brought a portable megaphone. He had gotten used to the equipment in recent days; it really wasn't convenient without it for a moment.

He had no choice but to step forward and say loudly, "There is only one large survivor camp in the Shanhai District, and it has already incorporated the surrounding areas. Where did you pop out from?"

As soon as this was said, a strange expression appeared on the faces of the group opposite.

"To tell you the truth, young man, we are from the Longtou Camp, uh... we escaped."

Sun Yingui had a very troubled expression, his eyes darting around as he stated the reason he found hard to mention.

"Escaped?"

Zhang Su's doubts grew even deeper. Everything before him seemed so incongruous. Escaped survivors holding children and women hostage—was this some kind of performance art? There was also a detail the others might not have noticed, but Zhang Su had spotted the problem.

Judging by their clothing, there was a clear distinction between the group opposite and the captives they were holding, but their mental states were no different. That shouldn't be the case.

"It's shameful to talk about this, but... a massive horde of zombies appeared outside the pass. The leader of the Longtou Camp decided to lead the fighters to defend the city walls, and we... we had to leave!"

"You bastards are just deserters! Idiots, why are you still explaining?"

Lu Yubo suddenly jumped up and cursed.

The gazes of the Yama Legion members also became less friendly. No one liked treacherous companions.

Sun Yingui and his party couldn't talk back after being cursed; they looked very gaunt.

After the sound of cursing gradually faded, Sun Yingui spoke again: "Noble people, I believe you can stick together in times of danger. We now have two strong young men and five women capable of bearing children. Can we trade them for some food and weapons?"

The scene suddenly went quiet.

Zhang Su's brows were tightly furrowed. Behind his sunglasses, his eyes stared coldly at the man speaking. He wasn't condemning the other party for treating the young men and women as items for exchange, but the first sentence the man uttered had enraged him.

It was both moral kidnapping and blatant sowing of discord! He believed many of his companions would have their attention drawn by the latter part of the sentence, but he would not miss the important information.

This kind of person was extremely annoying and very likely to create threats! Bang! A gunshot broke the silence, startling almost everyone. The Yama Legion members subconsciously dodged in the opposite direction of the sound, but when they saw who had fired, their hearts shook.

Zhang Su was holding the gun, a wisp of imperceptible blue smoke drifting from the muzzle.

"Eek..."

Zhou Haotian let out a strange cry, staring dumbfounded at the man opposite who had been shot, as if he had seen something unbelievable.

He had stayed in the laboratory for a long time. Since joining the Survivor Alliance's science department, he had almost never gone out. Let alone killing people, even killing zombies was done in a laboratory environment, without any danger.

Where had he ever seen such a scene where someone would open fire at the slightest disagreement? Coupled with the low temperature, his bladder tightened, and his energetic corpus cavernosum couldn't hold it back, dripping urine! Sun Yingui was still observing the situation, not expecting the other side to pull the trigger directly. He lifted his head, his eyes full of disbelief.

"Ah, ah!"

"Old Sun, Old Sun!"

"You, you bunch of animals, what are you doing..."

No sooner said than done, several people quickly grabbed the weapons from their backpacks, seemingly ready to fight to the death at any moment! "I don't like the way that person spoke just now—sarcastic and sowing discord. Bring me someone who can speak normally! Also, put down all your trashy weapons, or I won't mind killing all of you!"

Zhang Su said coldly.

He wasn't keen on using fists and feet against his own kind. Like the previous time he took down four thieves in a one-on-four, or judged nine criminals in a one-on-nine, those scenes were mainly performed for the new members to see. When leading his real brothers on a mission, there wasn't so much flashiness! Hearing Zhang Su's words, the Yama Legion members cooperated very well, setting up their guns and aiming. Deserters, holding young men and women hostage, speaking without restraint—with so many problems combined, they were definitely not good birds! (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 617 =====