Apocalypse: the Most Ruthless Person

“Something’s not right with some people.”

Zhang Su walked out of the room and immediately heard Zheng Xinyu’s voice nearby. He had long known this guy was sneaking around and eavesdropping outside the door, but he didn’t pay it any mind.

“Tch, are you afraid I’ll be interested in the little girl?”

Zhang Su smirked disdainfully, hearing many conversations in his ears. The nearby houses were full of people from West Camp Village. After two days of fright, it was normal to talk a lot now that they were in a stable environment.

“You know I’m not talking about that.” Zheng Xinyu quickly walked over to Zhang Su, whispering, “If you can conquer that little sister, I don’t mind at all. We can just get a bigger bed, haha.”

“I say, your thinking is really dirty, I’m not that kid Wu Lue, I don’t have a lolita complex!”

Zhang Su pouted. Sometimes he felt quite fortunate. Two flags flying high at home, each with their own strengths. Since Zhong Xiaoshan joined the camp, she fully utilized her advantages and managed logistics very well, while Zheng Xinyu maintained her little witch personality, fighting without any hesitation, and most importantly, the two of them got along harmoniously.

“Precisely because you’re not a lolicon, I said you’re acting strange. Are you thinking about that woman from today?”

As they walked downstairs together, Zheng Xinyu’s tone suddenly became more serious.

Zhang Su wasn’t used to it, glanced at her, and shook his head, “No.”

“I know you must have been under a lot of psychological pressure today. Just say whatever’s on your mind. Xiaoshan and I won’t mind. Don’t keep it bottled up, okay?”

Zheng Xinyu thought back to Zhang Su executing his ex-girlfriend today, with no hesitation pulling the pin on that grenade. Lei Youliang and Su Lei probably never expected Zhang Su to strike first without warning. Who knows how much internal conflict he wrestled with.

“Hoo…” Zhang Su exhaled a long breath, pulled out a cigarette from his pocket, handed one to Zheng Xinyu, and after lighting it, said calmly, “It’s all in the past. Over the past few months, there have been too many things forced upon us. This is just another one. As long as we’re all alive and well, that’s what matters! Oh, by the way, we need to assign more people for night duty again tonight.”

Blowing out a smoke ring, Zhang Su looked towards the area where the people from West Camp Village were settled.

“Speaking of which… hubby, we might have to activate Madian Village ahead of schedule.”

Zheng Xinyu felt the increasing psychological pressure with the growing population in the camp. She had witnessed the massive horde devour the Cyan Dragon Corps firsthand and did not want to follow the same path.

Zhang Su nodded, “Yeah, I initially planned to make do this winter, but it seems that’s not viable. It’s better to start early. We still need to transport water to Celestial Horse Island from there every now and then. Tomorrow, arrange for people from United Village and West Camp to head over, and twenty-something people from Kuanzhuang can go open up another village.”

It’s not that Madian Village can’t accommodate people from Kuanzhuang, but Satellite Village has a clear limit on its residential capacity. If there are too many people, it loses its significance. The result of Zhang Su’s research with Yuwen and others was that a population of thirty to forty was optimal.

This number allows for a good work division and tactical assignments for defense. As for the size of the horde it might attract, it’s hard to say, but as long as precautions are taken, it shouldn’t be a big problem.

After finishing their cigarettes, Zhang Su and Zheng Xinyu returned to the room and saw Zhong Xiaoshan writing and drawing under the lamplight.

“Hmm? You’re back. I’ve tallied the supplies. We made a good haul in terms of weapons this time!”

Zhong Xiaoshan handed a notebook to Zhang Su, which detailed the number of weapons recorded.

Zhang Su glanced through it and smiled with satisfaction.

According to the inventory records, even if everyone in the camp were armed with a rifle, there would be plenty left, including grenades and rocket launchers. They even acquired two mortars, though, unfortunately, no one knew how to use them properly.

It’s not that they absolutely couldn’t use them, they could fire them, but precision strikes were challenging. Even Pan Guoliang, who had some background, shook his head.

“Haha, there’s still a tank coming tomorrow. Once we bring the Type 99 back, that’s power!”

Zhang Su couldn’t help but press the small bag on his waist. The truly remarkable item was actually in his bag—two bottles of Venom Liquid, more formidable than anything recorded in the notebook!

“Do you really trust those people at Bridge Town? You left nobody guarding the army camp. What if they make a move and you regret it?”

Zheng Xinyu rolled her big eyes.

Zhang Su shook his head, “As important as a tank is, it’s not more important than people. Leaving someone to guard it would be more loss than gain if something unexpected happened. I bet the people at Bridge Town wouldn’t dare move the tank. If they dared to secretly drive it away, they’d leave a clear trail and wouldn’t fear us declaring war? Meng Changwei won’t be as arrogant as Lei Youliang, thinking a tank would make us enemies!”

If it were only the listed inventory, Zhang Su wouldn’t be so confident. The main reason was the two small bottles of Venom Liquid in the small bag, keeping his backbone straight.

At this moment, he could suddenly feel the power of overwhelming firepower!

“Brother Su, don’t just focus on the weapons. Pay some attention to the food reserves… the camp’s population has increased a lot, and the stockpile is relatively tight.”

Zhong Xiaoshan opened another small notebook and pinched her temples, looking a bit worried.

Celestial Horse Island originally had just over twenty people, which increased to forty after adding refugees from United Village.

The three prisoners from Cyan Dragon Corps, including Xin Qi, were recruited, plus Pan Guoliang and Xie Yanshan, along with twenty-eight villagers from West Camp. Without any surprises, over twenty more people will arrive tomorrow.

The population on Celestial Horse Island surged, more than doubling, and the rate of food consumption naturally multiplied. United Village wasn’t too bad as, though people fled, their food remained in the village, supplementing some. West Camp Village was different; they had donated their food to the Cyan Dragon Corps.

Zhang Su glanced casually at the small notebook. After ensuring ample firepower, his sense of crisis regarding food gradually diminished. He waved it off, saying, “It’s not even a hundred people. Relax, we’ll bring more food back from the Cyan Dragon Corps tomorrow. Plus, Kuanzhuang has plentiful food for extra support.”

“With the Cyan Dragon Corps gone, there shouldn’t be any sizable survivor camps in this large area. All nearby villages are our granaries. Once everyone adjusts to the climate, we’ll build the camp and gather food, enough to last until spring. When farming gets on track, things will improve!”

With Zhang Su’s future plans providing reassurance, Zhong Xiaoshan’s urgency about the food situation finally eased.

In the apocalypse, every kind of crisis needs attention, but blind anxiety isn’t necessary.

“It’s past ten… let’s get some rest. There’s work to do tomorrow. You guys tidy up first. I’m heading to the balcony for a smoke.”

Zhang Su checked his wristwatch for the time and headed to the balcony. He wasn’t sleepy at all. Surprisingly, energy depletion was slow, from full energy to now, about five hours had passed, and it was still at ninety-two percent.

Judging his energy level using his own situation, he could tell the energy slot information was accurate, reminding him that before activating the energy slot, his energy was at forty-five percent. In that state, he thought it was pretty good, only to later realize he had no concept of being full of energy…

“Looks like I really was a bit tired then.”

Zhang Su muttered to himself, then focused on the Backup Energy Slot, finding the first one filled to about thirty percent.

“Five hours and only thirty percent filled, this speed isn’t very friendly.”

If both were slowly recovering, the speed would be barely acceptable. But with only one progressing, it left him a bit disappointed.

“There must be some way to speed up the recovery… well, take it slow and study it.”

With this thought, Zhang Su turned and walked back into the room.

“Weren’t you going to smoke?”

Zheng Xinyu was waiting for Zhong Xiaoshan to use the bathroom first. Seeing Zhang Su drift back from the balcony after a bit of a daze, she looked at him with concern.

“Well, I thought about it. With sleep around the corner, better not to smoke. You tidy up first; I’ll go notify them to keep the heat up a bit.”

After saying this, Zhang Su walked to the bedside and picked up the walkie-talkie.

The camp had many new faces, not as slaves but as partners in future endeavors. On the first night, it’s best not to let everyone freeze.