Chapter 101
After Wei Cheng and Yi Qi went out, Shen Zheng was worried Guanguan might not sleep properly, so he came quietly to the bedside.
The moment he got close, the warm little chubby boy rolled toward him. His tiny round body curled into a plump little shrimp, his pink little hands tucked by his head, his lips still puckering now and then, as if he were eating something tasty even in his sleep.
Shen Zheng lowered his head and sniffed the child’s fluffy little curls, then laughed softly under his breath. “Why do you smell like a little puppy baby?”
If Guanguan were awake and heard that, he would definitely explode, but right now his little head was tucked under Uncle Shen’s arm, his soft little belly rising and falling with each breath as he slept like a sweet little piglet.
Shen Zheng pulled the scattered blanket back over him and gently patted the child’s back, his gaze full of warmth.
Grow up a little slower, our little Guanguan.
—
The fourth floor was the meeting room.
The first thing they saw was a set of dark red tables and chairs. At the head seat sat a middle-aged man in a Zhongshan suit, with graying hair, deep-set eyes, a stern expression, and a powerful, imposing face.
This man was none other than the famous Director Zhong Guohai of the Thirteenth Union Canning Factory.
In the front row sat President Qin, Zhou Qing, and a pair of strikingly similar young man and woman who looked like twins.
Farther back sat several leaders from smaller bases who looked somewhat familiar.
Yi Qi brought Wei Cheng to sit in the last row.
Uncle Qi leaned down and said something into the man’s ear. Director Zhong pressed his lips together, then nodded in silence.
“These days are far from peaceful, so I am grateful that all of you were still willing to travel such a long way to gather here in Wengming Mountain,” Director Zhong said calmly. “I will keep this brief. I invited you here today because there are two matters I would like to discuss and plan out with all of you promising young leaders.”
“The first matter is this: of the three major cities surrounding Yu City—Huan City, Binnan, and Lan City—all have already fallen. Even the number of survivors in each Yu City base is growing smaller and smaller. Over the past year, the canning factory has sent out thousands of hunters to wipe out zombies. Early this spring, we discovered that a large portion of the zombies from those three cities were slowly moving in the same direction. After tracking and observing them for several months, we finally confirmed this summer that their destination is none other than Yu City.”
The room erupted in shock.
Director Zhong continued, “It is as if they have sensed a summons. They are moving toward Yu City with a clear purpose. It was also around this time that mutated zombies capable of giving orders and commanding zombie hordes began appearing in Yu City.”
“How far away are those zombies now?” President Qin immediately asked. Since there were no communications, he switched to another phrasing. “Have the observation hunters reported how fast they’re moving? How many kilometers can they travel in a day? Roughly when will they reach Yu City?”
Uncle Qi answered from the side, “Without the stimulation of blood or food, their speed resembles that of an elderly, sick person taking a walk. At most, they travel five to ten kilometers a day. Winter has now arrived, and Lan City farther north is already seeing snow. Their pace is even slower than in summer and autumn. Our hunters estimate the zombie horde will reach Yu City next spring.”
Then he added, “However, if mutated zombies appear among that zombie army, then they will arrive in Yu City no later than before the New Year.”
Zhou Qing asked, “Uncle Qi, are you saying that, at present, mutated zombies have only appeared in Yu City?”
Uncle Qi nodded and gave a bitter smile. “That is one way to put it.”
Everyone in the room began talking at once.
“Why is our luck this rotten? Why did mutated zombies have to appear here of all places?”
“If only we could catch one of them. The problem is, those things are smart. They hide themselves well. You almost never see them in ordinary times.”
“Yu City is so big. Where are we supposed to find mutated zombies?”
“That,” Director Zhong said, “is the second thing I want to talk about.”
A trace of grief flashed across his face. “I believe everyone here already knows that a single mutated zombie can drive hundreds or even thousands of zombies into a frenzy and launch an assault. Once the zombie horde enters the city, if the hundreds—or perhaps thousands—of mutated zombies hiding throughout Yu City all launch attacks at once, then Yu City will very quickly become the next Huan City, Binnan, and Lan City!”
“Then we just leave Yu City!” cried a curly-haired woman from a small base. “We can go to Bei City!”
Someone immediately refuted her. “No! Huan City, Binnan, and Lan City’s zombies are already on the verge of surrounding Yu City. The moment we leave Yu City, we’ll probably run headfirst into the zombie horde. If half-starved zombies smell living flesh, do you think we’ll survive that?”
“Besides, Yu City is too far from Bei City. And what if Bei City has mutated zombies too?”
The curly-haired woman crossed her arms and let out a cold laugh. “You’re afraid of wolves ahead and tigers behind. Staying in Yu City is just waiting for death. We’d be better off going to another city and gambling on a chance at survival!”
Director Zhong suddenly said, “If you stay in Yu City, you will not die.”
He glanced at Uncle Qi.
Uncle Qi inclined his head, then reached behind him and pressed two switches on the conference panel. The heavy black curtains over the windows slid aside, revealing a silver wall through the glass.
He said, “Behind that is a survival shelter capable of holding sixty thousand people. Inside are enough supplies to sustain those sixty thousand people for ten years.”
That statement sent another shockwave through the room.
“Ten years’ worth of supplies!”
“Sixty… sixty thousand?” The curly-haired woman who had just been talking about fleeing to Bei City became so excited her tongue nearly tied itself in knots. “No, no, Yu City doesn’t even have sixty thousand survivors anymore, does it? Then what are we running for?”
Uncle Qi swept his gaze across the room, taking in everyone’s different expressions.
Some were genuinely overjoyed. Some were astonished. Some had already begun eyeing the place with greed.
His next words sounded like both a warning and a threat. “The disease control shelter can only be opened once. Once its gates are sealed, they cannot be reopened. It will remain closed until ten years later. Director Zhong is the only person capable of opening it. Likewise, the supplies and resources inside are under his sole authority to access and… to destroy.”
As soon as he finished speaking, several side doors opened from the outside, and dozens of upright hunters wearing body armor and carrying guns marched in.
A pot-bellied fat man scratched his head. “What exactly does Director Zhong mean by this?”
“This place does not belong to me, Zhong,” Director Zhong said. “It is the only shelter the nation left for its people. I will neither hide it nor monopolize it. I only want to save every survivor in Yu City.”
“But if anyone dares covet public property that belongs to all survivors, then the thirty thousand hunters of the Thirteenth Union Canning Factory will show no mercy!”
At that moment, everyone finally understood why the Thirteenth Union Canning Factory did not accept people over sixty, children under five, or pregnant women in the beginning.
They had been quietly cultivating hunters and strengthening their base this entire time.
The Highland Shelter only had three thousand hunters. The rest were rich people who could neither carry nor fight.
After taking a heavy blow, Watchtower Community had been reduced to barely two thousand people.
The smaller bases had anywhere from five hundred to a thousand people. Rose Garden’s number of hunters was even smaller, only two hundred.
And Guanguan’s Full-Belly Farm had only… fourteen people?!
Those with no ulterior motives began thinking hopefully about bringing their families and friends into the shelter.
Those with ulterior motives measured the strength of the canning factory and swallowed their schemes back down.
They didn’t even have a tenth of that force.
Director Zhong said solemnly, “I cannot guarantee whether mutated zombies will be able to lead the zombie horde into the disease control shelter. Nor can any expert tell us why they evolved intelligence. I do not even know where they are hiding now. But I do know this: they are like vermin. They will continue harming humanity. If they cannot eat human flesh here, then they will keep moving south, north, and elsewhere, overrunning city after city and tearing apart our people.”
“We can hide here for ten years. But when ten years pass and the food is gone, where will we hide then?”
The room fell silent.
“To be allowed into the disease control shelter, every base must surrender all guns, food, and supplies,” he said, then paused. “And in addition, each base must bring back mutated zombie heads equal to ten percent of their base population.”
The person who reacted most strongly was President Qin of the Highland Shelter.
Ten percent!
Their base had three thousand people. That meant they would need to find three hundred mutated zombies!
“Director Zhong, that doesn’t seem very fair…” President Qin stood up. “Mutated zombies are extremely hard to find, and even when you find them, they’re hard to kill. Can’t the quota be reduced?”
Director Zhong frowned at him. “Xiao Qin, you used to be an international mercenary. I am well aware of the strength of the base under your command.”
President Qin clenched his fists and dropped heavily back into his chair.
Uncle Qi said, “Whichever base first succeeds in killing the required number of mutated zombies, please bring your supplies and the mutated zombie heads to the Thirteenth Union Canning Factory. I hope everyone acts as quickly as possible. Once the zombie horde enters Yu City, we will move into the disease control shelter in advance.”
A faint anxiety rose in Wei Cheng’s chest.
They would need to kill at least two mutated zombies.
The thing he had wanted to confirm was now confirmed at last.
The earth-shattering zombie tide that should have arrived ten years later had truly come ahead of time—and was already looming right in front of them.
Wei Cheng did not feel much hostility toward Director Zhong of the Thirteenth Union Canning Factory.
He was not a truly evil man. In Wei Cheng’s previous life, he had never heard of the canning factory committing any unforgivable atrocities. When dealing with hunters from that base, their behavior and attitude had also been fairly educated and capable.
The Thirteenth Union Canning Factory was gentler than the formerly brutal Watchtower Community and fairer than the Highland Shelter, which still clung to class distinctions. Their only harshness was in their strict admission rules at the start.
Once the zombie tide arrived, even Guanguan’s safe house would no longer be safe.
The safe house’s maximum living duration depended on their stockpile level. Through all the time they had spent building it up, they could currently survive in the cozy little house for one month.
When he thought about how strange the mutated zombies were, how could he dare to take Guanguan and live outside?
So the disease control shelter was the best possible option for them and everyone at the farm.
With the zombie tide so near, once they returned home, he would have to use the surprise prize wheel from the last task reward and have Guanguan wish for an immediate upgrade to the ten-person escape vehicle.
Under the protection of hunters, Director Zhong left first. Uncle Qi smiled faintly. “Everyone is welcome to stay here for the night. You may use the vehicles outside as you please. I hope that next time we meet, we can all gather together inside the shelter, no longer troubled by food shortages or zombie threats.”
He quickly strode off after Director Zhong.
Director Zhong glanced back at him. “Remember to take your medicine. You’re always coughing. It’s not good for your health.”
Uncle Qi smiled. “Thank you for your concern, Director. I’ll take it as soon as I get back to the factory.”
Before getting into the car, Director Zhong looked once more at the building and sighed. “Do you think… I should have just let everyone enter the shelter directly?”
Uncle Qi replied, “Mutated zombies will always be an unpredictable variable. No one knows what will happen if they gather together. Your judgment is also for the sake of giving survivors a longer, more stable future. Besides, according to the team’s projections, Yu City really does have a significant number of mutated zombies. I know you worry about everyone’s safety, and we will also send our best hunters to help them as much as possible.”
“Don’t let them discover it. Better they think we are bad people than good ones,” Director Zhong said as he ducked into the black car.
There were many canning factory hunters guarding the area. A few people tried to approach the window for a closer look at the shelter, only to be forced back by the icy muzzles of the hunters’ guns.
The people in the meeting room gradually dispersed.
Some chose to head down the mountain that very night. Others decided to stay for one more night.
Rose Garden belonged to the former. Wei Cheng and the others belonged to the latter.
Wei Cheng went to see Teacher Xiao Mei off.
Teacher Xiao Mei gently patted his head. “Protect yourself. Protect Guanguan.”
Wei Cheng nodded and looked at her. “Teacher Xiao Mei… will you stay in the shelter here?”
Teacher Xiao Mei shook her head. She smiled faintly. “I’m going to Bei City to find Yuanyuan.”
Was Yuanyuan really in Bei City?
Both Yu City and Huan City were very, very far from Bei City.
Wei Cheng could not bear to keep asking. “Teacher, aren’t you… going to see Guanguan one more time?”
Teacher Xiao Mei lowered her eyes and gently shook her head. “No. If I see him again, I won’t be able to bear leaving. Yuanyuan is still waiting for me. I can’t delay any longer.”
“Knowing that you’ll be entering such a good shelter puts my mind at ease. The farm is wonderful, but the better it is, the more others will covet it.”
She hugged this strong, brilliant little boy tightly and said softly, “In ten years, teacher will bring Yuanyuan to find you.”
Ten years. Such a distant and terrible span of time.
“Goodbye, Chengcheng. I look forward to seeing you grown into a handsome young man.”
Teacher Xiao Mei’s eyes reddened, but she still curved her lips into a smile.
