Apocalypse: the Most Ruthless Person

“You’ve got a problem, you’re too excited!”

Zheng Xin stared at Zhang Su and said.

Zhang Su’s lips quivered slightly, giving Zheng Xinyu a sidelong glance as he said, “Found so many weapons, and I’m not allowed to be excited? You’re so cold…”

“Is that so… Well, alright then.”

Zheng Xinyu thought for a moment, feeling that Zhang Su’s explanation was reasonable. She turned her head and looked at the back seat, where Chen Hanzhou was studying the drone remote control with Wu Lue. All five people in the car were core members, so she asked, “Hubby, are you really planning to incorporate the people of Kuanzhuang?”

“That’s right…”

Zhang Su slowed the car slightly, and said, “Our camp now has an excess of labor but insufficient combat power. My initial idea was to merge Kuanzhuang and then expand our combat troops. Never expected Lei Youliang to have such thoughts and snatch the Cyan Dragon Corps’ equipment before I could and then challenge me…”

At this point, he sighed and still felt sorry for the loss of combat personnel in Kuanzhuang, despite being the one who orchestrated it.

“Damn, that Lei guy’s just crazy, thinking that just because he’s seized the weaponry of the barracks, he can do anything, and he even dared to ally with other forces against us. I think his brain’s just that way, doesn’t even know what’s most important, what a fool.”

Zhao Dezhu sneered disdainfully.

“Actually, I could feel there were people in their group who didn’t want to act that way, but there wasn’t any room for negotiation then. Forget it, even if they were brought over, they’d be useless. As long as Lei Youliang’s alive, there will be trouble. But letting them know I took out Lei Youliang would make them harbor suspicion, making it too complicated to handle…”

Zhang Su shook his head and continued, “The remaining people in Kuanzhuang are much easier to deal with. Just reveal Lei Youliang’s ambition, and they’ll understand the truth.”

“I still feel uneasy. Can the remaining people of Kuanzhuang really understand?”

Zheng Xinyu lacked confidence in Zhang Su’s plan.

“I believe Brother Su’s arrangements make sense.”

While studying the drone, Chen Hanzhou looked up and said, “Lei Youliang’s wrong decisions led to the annihilation of their combat force. Luckily, this didn’t happen within Kuanzhuang, or the entire village could have been dragged down with them! Those villagers, and even some of Kuanzhuang’s combat personnel, do they really all want to be our enemies?”

“I don’t think so!”

Zhao Dezhu nodded repeatedly, expressing strong agreement with Chen Hanzhou’s analysis.

“Exactly, that’s what I mean. Let’s not talk about Kuanzhuang now… Hey, what do you guys think about the people of Bridge Town?”

As Zhang Su spoke, he set the car’s heater to twenty-two degrees.

“I think Meng Changwei is a quite proper person, and his team shares his temperament. Hey, big bro, you’re not thinking of incorporating them, are you? I’ve heard that Bridge Town is far from us, over seventy kilometers by main road, and even more arduous by the mountain trails, too much hassle!”

Zhao Dezhu generously passed around cigarettes. He’d found a lot of them in the Cyan Dragon Corps today and was being particularly generous.

Zhang Su tilted his head, letting Zheng Xinyu light his cigarette, and said, “I also think the people from Bridge Town are okay, and I do want to bring them over. But I’m not clear on their specific situation. The north can be turned into a stronghold. If spring returns, if it does, we can fully develop Celestial Horse Island then!”

The design blueprint was gradually being drawn, the location was set; all that was needed was to prepare manpower and resources, then as soon as the climate was suitable, they could start building.

“Can it work? Look at the Cyan Dragon Corps—they were miserable. With more people, it surely attracts a horde of zombies. Can we control this ratio, does Dr. Fu have reliable data on this?”

Zheng Xinyu shook her head repeatedly, thinking that more people in the camp wasn’t a good thing, and taking the Cyan Dragon Corps as a case in point.

Zhang Su smiled, exhaled smoke through a slit in the window, and said, “I didn’t say that we’d all live together. Celestial Horse Island belongs to us alone, the real us. Then, using Celestial Horse Island as the core, we’d establish satellite villages around it, like the nearest Madian Village, housing thirty people. Tushan Village, south of Madian Village, can also be cleared. Of the seven or eight nearby villages, accommodating four to five hundred people in total is feasible, and it’s more spread out than the population of the Cyan Dragon Corps!”

“Yes, yes, big bro’s idea is great. With the population not centralized, large groups of zombies won’t find us, and we can provide quick support to each other, damn it, the more I think about it, the more ingenious it seems, haha.”

Zhao Dezhu clapped his hands in praise.

“It’s really good. Once it slowly develops, it’ll be like a new-style town, hehe.”

Zheng Xinyu visualized Zhang Su’s concept in her mind and also found it feasible.

“Don’t think that far ahead yet. Here, notify the others; we’re heading straight to Kuanzhuang to recruit the remaining people!”

Zhang Su handed Zheng Xinyu a walkie-talkie.

The sky had darkened. The FJ Cruiser turned on its headlights and veered towards Kuanzhuang at an intersection.

Meanwhile, in the living area of Kuanzhuang Village, the atmosphere was bleak. Nearly everyone had gathered in the courtyard where Lei Youliang usually called meetings for combat personnel.

Now seated in the middle was not the self-destructive Lei Youliang, but the unkempt Yang Liehuo.

Due to his disagreement with Lei Youliang’s decisions, Yang Liehuo hadn’t participated in this mission. As a major force among Kuanzhuang’s combat personnel, his absence was notable. Lei Youliang had complaints, but considering various aspects, he hadn’t said much, thinking it was still beneficial to keep a capable person in the village.

“Liehuo… it’s so late, why aren’t Youliang and the others back yet? Do you think something might have happened?”

An elderly woman with a cane asked Yang Liehuo worriedly.

Surrounding her were either elderly people, women, or snot-nosed children. Two coal stoves were burning, with the bottoms of the chimneys glowing red, making the room quite warm.

Yang Liehuo, the only able-bodied man in the room—though not accurately described as young as he was over fifty—fit the category of middle to old age by his years.

Hearing the village elder’s question, Yang Liehuo anxiously rubbed his hair and said, “Aunt Yun, the outside world is very complicated. It’s not like before, where you can always return home punctually. Even small issues can delay things. Everyone, please don’t worry, don’t worry.”

“Brother Huo.”

At this moment, a woman, around thirty years old, stood up and said, “I think we can’t continue like this. All of us have hands and feet, so why aren’t we allowed to participate in training? Why does Lei Youliang specially approve Su Lei to participate in external missions while we can’t train? We can also go out to gather supplies, and if nothing else, knowing how to use guns at least allows us to protect ourselves in this environment!”

“Exactly, Sister Xia is right. We discussed this while working.” Another village woman stood up and said, “Brother Huo, I remember you suggested before that all the women train together; why wasn’t it implemented later?”

Looking at the woman asking the question, Yang Liehuo spread his hands and said, “I’m not the one managing our village, I did suggest it before. Youliang disagreed, so why are you asking me…”

About a month ago, Yang Liehuo had discussed this in the village, much like all survivor camps, Kuanzhuang faced the issue of insufficient combat personnel, so he advocated for all villagers to be trained as fighters.

Initially, even the women seemed to agree with the decision. The leader didn’t say much at first, but Lei Youliang vetoed Yang Liehuo’s universal training proposal on the grounds of insufficient equipment and the importance of logistics.

“Moreover, do you really not know why Su Lei joined this mission? It’s because of her sister…”

Yang Liehuo glanced around, feeling quite troubled, as having to deal with these women was uncomfortable.

“Fine, we won’t discuss Xiaolei’s matter! I remember, Youliang once mentioned that our village has insufficient weapons, saying that training more people is futile due to this. He also said it would consume more food to maintain our physical strength. However, after the weapon supplies increased and our food storage was abundant, this issue was never mentioned again!”

Another woman who hadn’t spoken earlier added.

“I honestly don’t want to continue like this. When the men leave, it’s as if we’re scared chickens hiding in the village. Teach us how to use guns, and we can contribute to the battle. This way, our village will be safer, won’t it?”

“In my opinion, Youliang simply doesn’t want us to handle weapons. If he’s really just worried about the logistics being too busy, tell him there’s no need to worry—we’re not that useless!”

“If the men can hold guns, so can we women. The old times are gone; don’t underestimate us.”

Just like the broken window effect, when discussing this topic, everyone had something to say; it was clear that Kuanzhuang’s women were very aware and desired strength more than those from United Village and West Camp.

It wasn’t that those diligent women were any less capable, but in the post-apocalypse, everyone should develop the ability to protect themselves!

Unfortunately, they were unaware of Lei Youliang’s thoughts, nor could Yang Liehuo see through him. If everyone had the ability to protect themselves, then when the leader made mistakes or was questioned, they might be overthrown by others.

This was not something Lei Youliang wanted to happen. To ensure his position, he spent a lot of effort in winning people’s hearts, merely to satisfy his own selfish desires.

If Zhang Su had known these things in advance, he definitely wouldn’t have said much to Lei Youliang. Unfortunately, Su Xiaoya didn’t understand these dynamics, and even if she did, she wouldn’t have mentioned them to him…