[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-zombie-apocalypse-creation":3,"chapter-zombie-apocalypse-creation-zombie-apocalypse-creation-chapter-728":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Zombie Apocalypse: Creation",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1887305,2510,"Chapter 728: Yiming’s Dead Son","zombie-apocalypse-creation-chapter-728",728,"\u003Cp>\"What if they are just bluffing?\" One of the officers argued that he didn’t believe Xiaoyun’s proposed scenario.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Could be. But we’ll just have to wait before doing anything——\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Commander! W-We figured out how many p-people they have.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As a scout rushed into the tent, his face could barely finish panting for breath as a nearby officer quickly helped him from the table.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"How many people?\" Xiaoyun questioned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"T-They have at least 300,000 soldiers surrounding Changsha.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not a single person spoke up. Everyone’s face turned grim as they couldn’t believe the number that the soldier had stated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You serious? 300,000 soldiers? You sure you didn’t miscount or anything?\" The senior officer questioned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"We confirmed it twice and compared the drone footage with the entire team. There are at least 200,000 soldiers alone in the other three flanks.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"So there’s around 100,000 soldiers on the southern side of Changsha alone?\" Xiaoyun questioned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the scout nodded his head, all of the officers turned their heads over to Xiaoyun. Their mouth remained closed, but it was clear what they wanted to ask him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"We’re going to stay put.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Commander, why don’t we tell Yiming to leave and give them the weapons? There’s no way we’re beating them with only 20,000 men.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I’ll decide when we’re leaving or not. I don’t want this report to leak into the rest of the army.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All of the officers hesitated for a second, but eventually agreed to follow Xiaoyun’s order as they went out of the tent one by one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Wait, you stay.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the senior officer remained in the HQ tent, Xiaoyun took out his walkie-talkie before trying to change the dial several times.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Have you guys managed to communicate with Yiming at all? Or is he still radio silent?\" Xiaoyun curiously asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yiming, he.... We can’t communicate with them. They haven’t responded to any of the signals we had sent.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Looking over to his own walkie-talkie, he soon realized a possible reason why Yiming might not want to respond to him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Have you tried sending drones over to him?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"We tried, but they didn’t respond to it either. I think they might have thought those drones were enemy drones.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unable to get any info on the actual situation within Changsha, Xiaoyun couldn’t help but feel a little lost at the situation at hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was no ’planning’ he could do beforehand. The lack of coordination from Yiming’s side made it impossible for him to work something out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The only thing he could pray for at this point was for Yiming himself to choose to break through the encirclement and for his army act as a backup.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Commander, are we really going to fight those men?\" The senior officer questioned as the battle seemed lost to him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I already said, we’re going to stay put until Yiming himself does something... He should know at this point that we’re right out here.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xiaoyun answered, his face remained confident as he didn’t want to show the uncertainty of the situation the army faced.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I see...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>---\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the standstill held on for hours with no signs of changing, the three-hour mark that the diplomat had promised soon arrived.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, it didn’t go in the way that Xiaoyun had imagined. Nor did any of his officers and soldiers expect the outcome.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiangxi’s men in the southern flank suddenly started to withdraw, leaving an open gap seemingly intended for Yiming to escape from.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After another ten minutes of waiting, vehicles fully armed with missiles started leaving unscathed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not a single shot was fired by the enemy. Jiangxi’s men just watched Yiming’s men drive out of the city with their various cars and buses.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hey Xiaoyun!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As a soldier yelled out in the distance, Xiaoyun quickly realized it was no one other than Chengyi, sitting on top of an APC as it drove down the highway.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hey... What the hell just happened?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before Xiaoyun could ask one of those men in the vehicle for an answer, the senior officer quickly chimed in with a suggestion of his own.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Commander, should we get ready to leave? I don’t think we should really stay here any longer.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing the whole train of vehicles leaving comes to an end, Xiaoyun agreed to the idea as soldier quickly began loading their stuff back into their trucks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Commander Xiaoyun, sorry for making you worried.\" Yiming’s voice suddenly appeared on the walkie-talkie.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You’re going to have a lot of explaining to do when we get back,\" Xiaoyun murmured as he ended the transmission and hopped back into his car.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>---\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A few hours later...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In a small restaurant at Shaoguan, Xiaoyun and Yiming were sitting right across from each other with plates full of food.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Xiaoyun, I need to apologize to you first.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Apologize for what? You brought those missiles into our hands. This is literally the most impressive thing I have ever seen someone do.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Xiaoyun looked back at him with a confused face, Yiming only lowered his head even further as if he was hesitating to tell him something.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Regardless of what you did while in Changsha, you have made up for all the possible mistakes now you’re in Shaoguan.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a whole minute of silence, Yiming finally spoke up again as he looked back at Xiaoyun’s face with a grateful look.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Thank you.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Now, can you explain the whole story of what you did in Changsha? And don’t try to trick me, Houqin already told everything she knows.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Of course.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yiming paused for a second as he drank the hot tea at the table before speaking up again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Xiaoyun, do you know I used to have a son?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The question made Xiaoyun shake his head, as he always thought Yiming had devoted his life to the military.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"My son was actually a soldier just like me. He was actually on duty while I was on break a month before the outbreak happened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The army recalled me to make up for the shortage of officers. I was put in charge of a small company of just over a hundred soldiers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since the two of us were in separate commands, we rarely got to see each other. On the day of the outbreak, my son was assigned to head north.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yiming’s face suddenly turned darker and darker as Xiaoyun’s mind could already predict what had happened to his son.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"When the outbreak happened, I was extremely worried about my son... He was the only person I had left in this world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I requested to head north, but the general told me to stay. I accepted it was my duty as a soldier to follow orders.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Is this the main reason why you wanted to leave Luoping initially?\" Xiaoyun questioned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It was partially one of the reasons. But more importantly, every soldier had gotten the memo to head up north to reinforce the capital.\" Yiming answered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"But you didn’t head up north, though. You rejoined with the rest of the army, stayed in Shaogguan, didn’t you?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xiaoyun questioned as memory quickly filled in the details. He could still vividly remember the day Yiming left right after the first lab bust.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yes. I did stay in Shaoguan after the general dismissed the idea of heading north... This was when I also learned my son was long dead.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Sorry for your loss.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Thank you...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a short silence between the two of them, Yiming spoke up again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Xiaoyun, do you know why I chose to rejoin you rather than to continue going up north after I gain control of Shaoguan?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I thought you rejoined me because you guys had a lack of food and thought I had great potential, right?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xiaoyun’s voice got quieter and quieter, as he quickly felt too much of a braggart in this kind of moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No. I wanted to rejoin you because I know you don’t like the military. You’re the one person I know who has a chance to stand up against them.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Wait, why do you want to be against the military? You had been loyally serving the country for years at this point.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Because my son didn’t die on the front line. He died in Changsha because of a single officer’s arrogant mistake.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As soon as Yiming answered the question, Xiaoyun could feel the frustration seething through his teeth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The army killed my son after a cut mark was found on his arm. He was only 19 when they shot him dead on the spot, thinking he was infected.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What... Why would they do that?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xiaoyun was a little shaken, as a cut mark and a bite mark would be impossible to mix up for someone to be infected.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was clearly something more behind the story. Something that led to Yiming’s son getting shot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Because of corruption. It’s always the damn corruption. They killed him in cold blood when he was never even on the front line.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Yiming grabbed the bear bottle from the side, he lifted it for a second before putting it down as if he remembered something.\u003C\u002Fp>",1513,"2026-06-10T06:59:54.595Z",1,"novelbin.me","716037410c258696991512bdef376fa7d3f58c490c67d3c4d014f3a02989b1e2","zombie-apocalypse-creation-chapter-729","zombie-apocalypse-creation-chapter-727",829,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fzombie-apocalypse-creation-cover.jpg"]