Chapter 239: The Granary
Lu Weiyi climbed onto the rooftop.
Not far away, a line of vehicles sped toward them, various types packed with people and supplies, men and women alike. The last few vehicles were chased and surrounded by zombies, forced to stop. Screams from the people and zombie roars, combined with the scent of blood, only increased the zombie numbers.
Zombies came from all directions at the sound, even though this was after the team had been hunting for a whole day and the surrounding zombie numbers had clearly decreased.
“They will come here,” Ning Yuan said just as the lead vehicle stopped not far from the gate. Then several men and women got out, shouting to the people in the cars behind to enter the courtyard.
The others silently looked toward Ning Yuan.
Ning Yuan stamped his foot. “We’re the only high-rise building nearby, and it’s late at night. Our lights are on—it’s practically flashing like a neon sign telling everyone ‘There are people here, come for help!’”
“Brothers upstairs, can you help us out? We will reward you,” someone from the courtyard shouted toward the rooftop.
Everyone in the team looked at Lu Weiyi.
Lu Weiyi’s gaze followed the long convoy of vehicles. Zombies were still relentlessly clawing at the car windows, even shaking some of the vehicles.
“1000 crystal cores,” Lu Weiyi casually said as a rough price.
“Deal,” the person below replied.
“An A-rank among them, be careful,” Lu Weiyi lifted his chin. Everyone in the room rushed out, leapt down from the building, and quickly headed toward the convoy outside.
This made Xu Sa, who walked down more steadily, look especially calm and distinct.
Rescuing people and killing zombies, waves of survivors poured into the courtyard. Xu Sa immediately warmed up to them, asking after their wellbeing. After nearly an hour, the surrounding zombies were eliminated, and when the main force returned, Xu Sa had already gathered most of the intelligence.
The newcomers came from a small county in Pingjin City. Before the apocalypse, it was a central grain reserve site. After the apocalypse, food was temporarily sufficient there, so they formed a small base.
But the people in the base generally lacked strong abilities. As zombies grew stronger, attacks on the base gradually increased. The base leader contacted the Pingjin City base, surrendering part of their grain in exchange for protection.
“Then why were you fleeing in the middle of the night?” Ning Yuan asked.
The three-story broken building was packed with over a thousand people, all wearing the stunned expressions of survivors still not fully aware of their new reality.
“The Pingjin City base agreed, but before the help arrived, the zombies came first,” the leader, a middle-aged man named Chen Xiang, said with a weary look. According to him, before the apocalypse he was a leader responsible for the planting base.
After the apocalypse, food was sufficient and there was little scheming. He had been leading them all along.
While they spoke, Liu Rui and Gu Qingji returned with the collected crystal cores and handed them all to Lu Weiyi. Lu Weiyi put them away and looked at Chen Xiang, holding out his hand.
“I…” Chen Xiang awkwardly hesitated.
“You’re not going to renege, right?” Ning Yuan’s usually gentle face darkened slightly. Though still smiling, an unspoken pressure was felt.
“No, no,” Chen Xiang waved his hand, “it’s just that we don’t have any crystal cores.”
Before anyone could say more, Chen Xiang hurried on, “Our base has supplies. Our grain storage was only slightly damaged; there’s still plenty of stored grain.” When food wasn’t scarce, fewer people risked fighting zombies, and crystal cores were especially rare.
“You have quite the scheme. We saved people; we’re going into the zombie nests to get supplies. Maybe we’ll even cause trouble with the Pingjin City base folks. Getting supplies is our skill. So you want to get something for nothing?” Ning Yuan wiped his blood-stained watermelon knife, speaking calmly.
“We… we really don’t have any,” Chen Xiang nearly cried. “The zombies came too suddenly. When everyone evacuated, they only took essentials and left everything else behind.”
“We only brought these things. If you want, take them all,” a man with Chen Xiang, pointing to the stuff on the vehicles outside, said. He carried a replica Guan Gong sword—long wooden handle, crescent-shaped blade dripping with rotten blood and flesh. “If that’s not enough, leave us a contact and we’ll repay you gradually.”
He was the man who earlier agreed to help—Chen Xiang’s son, Chen Xing, a metal-type ability user. This was one reason why Chen Xiang, an ordinary man, still commanded respect.
Lu Weiyi pulled a sheet of paper from space and quietly handed it to the expressionless Xu Sa. It showed the total supplies at several major national grain reserve bases.
The China Grain Reserves Corporation (COFCO) was listed in the middle; the top ones were in the west, far away from here.
Seeing the storage at a hundred thousand tons, Xu Sa’s breath tightened noticeably, but he calmed himself and casually passed the paper to Ning Yuan.
Ning Yuan glanced and withdrew his gaze. “Where do you plan to go now? Pingjin City base?”
Chen Xiang shook his head with a bitter smile. “Pingjin City base doesn’t accept ordinary people. I originally wanted to trade food for everyone’s safe passage, but now… sigh…”
That, they really didn’t know.
Xu Sa immediately asked around for news about Pingjin City.
Currently, the Pingjin City base was split into two opposing factions: one was the original government-police forces, the other a rising new power.
At the start of the apocalypse, government-police were strong and helped the people, but as ability users grew stronger, the government’s influence waned. The internal conflicts drained energy. Ordinary people’s lives became increasingly difficult until they were eventually expelled from the base.
“What about family members? Not everyone can be ability users, right?”
Chen Xiang stayed silent. Chen Xing said, “…killed them.”
“What?” Ning Yuan couldn’t believe it.
“Anyone ordinary wanting to enter the base had to be killed. They’re called failed evolutionary defective products. Ability users wanted to provoke conflict with the government-police forces. The government-police… maybe thought the same or were helpless. Anyway… they’re all killed,” Chen Xing sat beside Chen Xiang gripping his sword. “There’s not a single ordinary person left in Pingjin City base.”
“And what about the ordinary people?” Wu Yue frowned.
“At first, they built the base, but later the supplies they gathered were often intercepted by the opposing faction. With zombies getting stronger, most ordinary people now live outside the base, serving as amusement for ability users, scavenging what they can to survive.”
After Chen Xing finished, no one spoke. The hall was full of young men and women, minors among them, all with blank expressions, uncertain whether their confusion was toward their current environment or the unknown future ahead.
“Have not asked yet— which base are you from? Do you accept ordinary people? What are the conditions to enter the base?” Chen Xiang leaned forward, trying to curry favor.
“Us?” Xu Sa glanced at Ning Yuan.
Although the base planned to accept outsiders, clearly not right now. They were about to head to the Capital, were short on manpower, and taking in too many people could cause trouble.
“Our base just formed, it’s only our squad members, so it might be inconvenient,” Xu Sa said, looking at this group with no self-protection ability. He felt pity but was more thinking about the base’s future.
Lu Weiyi had no strong opinion about accepting people and said nothing.
After asking around, they left a few behind to inquire about the nearby map, and the rest returned to the rooftop.
“Do you want to make a trip?” Xu Sa stepped forward first, whispering.
Ning Yuan handed the paper to the confused few, and everyone eagerly looked at Lu Weiyi.
No matter how much grain their base stored, it couldn’t compare to this place’s reserves. Lu Weiyi couldn’t help but be tempted, especially since the Pingjin City base might be eyeing it and could take it at any time. He didn’t want to waste time.
“I’ll take a few and set out tonight. You keep hunting zombies. Return to base when the time’s up.”
“Okay,” Li Qing agreed.
“Five A-rank follow me. We’ll go fast and come back fast. Avoid conflicts as much as possible.”
“Hey, aren’t you bringing me?” Usually, in groups of five, Lu Weiyi matched them to five elemental types, the strongest five standing behind him. Xu Sa looked around, asking.
“Check again. See if there’s any other info to squeeze out,” Lu Weiyi patted his shoulder. After the map was drawn, the five disappeared into the night.
*
The COFCO base wasn’t far. With the map, no detours. Six people drove one car and arrived by dawn.
“Did the Pingjin folks lose their minds fighting among themselves?” Ning Yuan asked excitedly when he saw the grain warehouses standing nearby.
Earthquake damage was minor. Except for a few clearly toppled, the others were intact, still standing tall. After checking, Lu Weiyi found them full of grain.
“Good thing they’re stupid,” Antonio said excitedly as the car sped like a plane toward the grain warehouse. Zombies rushing onto the road were knocked flying.
“How much is this?” Gu Qingji got out, wielding his mutated ivy, slicing several zombies attacking him, eyes burning.
“One shallow round warehouse stores 5,000 tons,” Ning Yuan answered professionally.
“One, two, three…” Liu Rui began counting honestly.
“Who cares how much, just grab it. Take as much as you can,” Ning Yuan laughed loudly, looking at Lu Weiyi.
“Squad leader, go ahead,” Li Zhuang gave him a new title.
After investigation, Lu Weiyi was very satisfied with the reserves. He stepped forward, getting close, and directly absorbed the warehouse and the land into space.
“Awesome!”
One person shouted at the scene, killed several zombies rushing over, got in the car, and shouted to circle the whole foundation, taking everything they hadn’t grabbed yet.
Cheers and excitement showed the haul was plentiful. Even on the way back, they never calmed down, whispering nonstop.
They returned safely. At midnight, when they got back to the base beach, they realized the residents who should have left were now gathered by the shore. Many had boarded the boat channel, occupying half the space.
“Are they coming to join our base?” Ning Yuan opened the window, looking out. By the moonlight and the other side’s campfires, he could make out their silhouettes.
“Our soldiers have kind hearts,” Li Zhuang said with a hint of sarcasm.
