Chapter 651: Should Go Back Once

"One-thirtieth, that explosion, directly ignited..."

Shen Linrui repeated the keywords Zhang Su had said, his eyes gradually regaining reason.

"Liu-Liu, it must be Liu-Liu!"

Suddenly, a companion behind Shen Linrui exclaimed and stomped his foot. "He's the only one who likes to play with lighting zombies. Ah, that idiot, he really is an old fool, damn it!"

Play with lighting zombies?

Zhang Su, Zhao Dezhu, and the others looked at each other. It seemed perverts were unavoidable everywhere.

"No, doesn't your camp leader manage things? Doing this is just too insane!"

Zhang Su found it absurd. He had seen sick people, but never this sick. It reminded him of those "Absolute Justice" guys.

Shen Linrui waved his hand weakly, indicating he didn't want to talk...

Another member of the Dragon Head camp, who was in a slightly better state, said, "The situation is like this, Yama. Liu-Liu was originally a sentry in our team. When he encountered small groups of zombies, like three or five, or ten or so, he would use cars and steel cables to bundle the zombies together and then set them on fire...

Team Leader Shen criticized him many times, but he wouldn't change. Later, he was demoted from a formal member to a trainee member and wasn't allowed to participate in outside missions, so he restrained himself a little."

"Restrained my ass. If he had really restrained himself, it wouldn't have ended up like this."

Another person was burning with anger.

"If he had really followed us out and ignited an explosive zombie outside, at most a few would die. Now, it's great! The trouble one person can cause is actually this big. I'm impressed!"

"Let's not dwell on it for now. How many people are in your camp exactly?"

Yesterday afternoon, Zhang Su was prepared to ask about the Dragon Head camp in detail, but before he could, the explosion happened. It wasn't until now that he asked again, making him feel a bit nervous, secretly wondering if he had triggered some keyword.

"We don't know the exact number, only that it's a little over six hundred..."

With the status of Shen Linrui and the others, it was normal not to know the exact number. Currently, no more than four members on Pegasus Island knew the exact personnel situation.

Zhang Su and Yu Wen knew clearly, Li Zongkai had an idea, and Yang Xinqi, who was busy registering accommodation information, probably knew too. As for the others, even those helping with records didn't understand.

"Six hundred, that's not a small number..."

Zhang Su sighed. So many fresh lives. If they were all recruited to Pegasus Island, the development speed would be much faster, provided it was peaceful recruitment and sincere joining.

"How about... you ask again, is it absolutely certain? Are there any survivors? Is there still a need to go for rescue?" Zhang Su pointed to Shen Linrui's pocket.

"Right, right, right, rescue! We must go back for rescue!"

Shen Linrui woke up as if from a dream and spun around twice. It was pitch black all around, and he couldn't even tell the direction.

"Don't rush to leave. Ask clearly first!"

Zhang Su grabbed Shen Linrui, who was like a headless chicken. He had previously thought him very steady and measured, but unfortunately, when faced with a major change, he still panicked. He was better than the average person, but there was still plenty of room for improvement.

"Ask, I'll ask!"

Shen Linrui gently scooped Lightning from his pocket into his palm and said urgently, "Lightning, Lightning... wake up. Can you be sure that everyone in the camp has perished? Could there still be people alive? Did you look inside the ruins? Also... is there any meaning in rescuing?"

Asking this, Shen Linrui felt a sense of powerlessness, his spine chilling. He thought of the companions who helped them lure away zombies on the road yesterday, smiling at each other when they parted, but now they were separated by life and death.

Lightning rubbed its sleepy eyelids, its eyes turning slowly, and then gestured. "It's gone. The whole camp is gone? At most... at most, only the brothers who went to Huludao might still be alive."

"Gone... how is it gone? Is everything gone? Or is it a collapse, a cave-in, the city walls collapsed?"

Zhang Su asked Lightning directly. Through observation, he could already understand 70% of "Lightning-speak."

Lightning gestured with its two front paws. Zhang Su nodded as he watched, and after finishing, asked Shen Linrui, "Does it mean the camp is gone and has become a big pit?"

"Yes..."

Shen Linrui thought of the big pit he saw two kilometers north of Pegasus Island yesterday afternoon, his heart numbing.

"Damn. The whole camp is gone! How big of a pit must that be... and it exploded inside the city!"

Zhao Dezhu couldn't help but complain.

Yu Wen gave Zhao Dezhu a look, meaning: don't run your mouth! The explosion of the "Grape" was indeed terrifying, but to blow away the entire camp, the light ball had to completely cover it. Otherwise, how could a shockwave create a pit? But to cover the entire camp, even if a whole Venom Zombie exploded, it couldn't be far away; it had to be at the city wall, or more exaggeratedly, in the center of the camp.

"Since the camp has become a big pit, how are you okay?"

Zhang Su was confused and continued to ask Lightning.

This question made the people around him suddenly dazed. Could it be that Lightning didn't live in the camp? The answer was revealed quickly. Lightning very humanly scratched its head, looking a bit embarrassed, and then gestured.

Shen Linrui translated: "It hid a lot of food in a cave. Yesterday, when the explosion happened, it was transporting supplies to the cave... That cave is four or five miles away from the camp. It was a backup plan I arranged for Jiajia..."

Zhang Su nodded in understanding. According to Shen Linrui, Jiajia was only thirteen or fourteen years old. For such a little girl to survive in a camp of hundreds, even with Lightning's help, it was like walking on thin ice. Having a backup plan was normal! A funny scene appeared in his mind: a hamster carrying a backpack running on the ground, seeing only the backpack and not the hamster, as if it were haunted...

The other four looked at Shen Linrui, clearly even they didn't know about this.

"Team Leader Shen, are we... are we still going back?"

"Nonsense, where can we go if we don't go back? Are you an idiot!"

"He has no ties in the camp, so of course he doesn't care. I, I want to go back to pay tribute to my brothers!"

Shen Linrui didn't express his stance, but the other four were determined.

"Things in the world are impermanent, and in the apocalypse, there are even more unpredictable things!" Zhang Su looked at the men from the Dragon Head camp and said, "It's impossible for the return journey to be as smooth as the way here, but I think you should go back once!"

The five looked at Zhang Su with strange expressions. They thought the other side would persuade them to stay, but they didn't expect him to persuade them to go back.

"Don't look at me like that. I'm letting you go back for my own considerations, not standing in your shoes! First, I can be sure that the exploding zombie was definitely not from the large group that came from Huludao, because the distance and time don't match!

Then, according to Team Leader Shen, the Dragon Head camp still has brothers performing missions outside. You should find them, or let them know you are still alive. Finally, even if the Dragon Head camp is gone, it doesn't mean human civilization is gone. As long as you are sincere, Pegasus Island is willing to accept you all!"

Zhang Su opened his arms to the few and continued, "You don't have to give me an answer now. You have a lot of things on your mind. Make preparations first. I will send a few brothers to assist you, and by the way, go see the specific situation of the Shanhai District and that zombie horde. You must work together!"

It wasn't asking for opinions, but carried the tone of an order.

After he finished speaking, the scene was silent. Shen Linrui and the others were anxious, conflicted, and hesitant—it was a battle between heaven and man, and there was a deep sense of powerlessness.

From the bottom of their hearts, they didn't want to face the camp that had become a deep pit, but there was a voice echoing in their hearts, telling them they must go back and see, go back and take a look, to fulfill the ties in their hearts...

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 652 =====