"Didn't bring down the gasoline, I'm going to get it."
Wang Xin glanced around and felt it might be difficult to ignite without so combustible material, so he rode his electric scooter back to the camp to fetch the fuel.
Wu Lue, feeling a bit bored waiting, walked over to the pile of corpses and flicked his lighter repeatedly, igniting the corner of a corpse's clothing.
Igniting the clothing wasn't hard; the real challenge was burning the Zombie corpses themselves. However, when the clothing's flas touched the Zombie's skin, it ignited far easier than expected, as if the Zombie skin was itself flammable, naturally burning up!
"Oh, oh, oh, hey!"
Wu Lue initially didn't react, but as several corpses in front of him started burning in succession, the heat wave hit him and prompted him to quickly retreat.
"Xiaowu, what did you do?"
Yuwen watched the wildfire rapidly spread from the corners of the corpse pile, asking in astonishnt.
In just this short ti, Wang Xin hadn't even reached the foot of the mountain on his electric scooter before noticing the corpse pile was ablaze, smacking his lips as he turned back.
Wu Lue didn't have ti to answer Yuwen's question. Along with everyone else, he quickly moved away from the blazing fire, retreating over twenty ters before stamring, "I... I just lit the Zombie's clothing, and it caught fire, really easy to burn..."
The group looked at each other, wondering if Zombies had flammable properties?
Fortunately, they were positioned upwind, allowing the heat and smoke to dissipate with the wind, taking any strange odors with it.
The flas soared over ten ters high, with a constant crackling sound echoing. The burning pile of corpses looked like a scene straight out of Hell's magma pits.
"That's terrible. If I turn into a Zombie, is this how I'll end up?"
"No, maybe you'll get stuck sowhere and decompose naturally, haha."
"Scram... Let's get going, head back!"
Many couldn't bear the sight and returned to camp early to work, leaving only Yuwen sitting by the dirt road, paper and pen in hand, scribbling while monitoring the spread of the fire, simultaneously planning upgrades for the pig pen.
Over an hour passed, and Yuwen flipped through his written plans, feeling quite satisfied. However, at this mont, voices reached his ears.
"Hey, old man, what are you burning here?"
The sudden voices from behind startled Yuwen, who instinctively wanted to grab his gun for defense, only to realize he hadn't slung his rifle on his back while working; he only had a camp-standard Steel Rod!
Slowly picking up the Steel Rod as a cane, Yuwen cald himself and stood up, turning around to see a pickup truck parked on the road. Four n sat openly in the truck bed, and a woman was in the passenger seat; the man talking to him must be the driver, as the driver's seat was empty.
Six people didn't matter; what mattered were the four n standing in the truck bed, all brandishing guns!
They had submachine guns and automatic rifles; Yuwen didn't recognize the models, but their style showed they weren't homade by villagers, definitely high-industrial products!
In cases where authenticity couldn't be determined, they were treated as real weapons.
"Ah, haha, good afternoon, gentlen. So Zombie corpses from the village, handling them a bit."
Yuwen kept a professional smile on his face, as if facing a group of middle school students waiting to be educated.
"Zombie corpses? That's bull, such a big pile, how many corpses must be here?"
The man speaking wore a black down jacket, looking large and rugged. He had a scar on his chin, possibly from a burn, which was very prominent.
Yuwen turned his head to look, his expression stiffening as the blaze had long obscured the corpse's features, the pile becoming a pitch-black ss after over an hour of burning!
Even if Scarface didn't believe him, Yuwen himself wouldn't if he didn't know it was Zombies being burned...
Scarface, seeing Yuwen silent, said impatiently, "Nevermind all that! You look pretty put together; got a safe camp, which village are you from?"
Yuwen politely looked at Scarface and said, "I'm not a local, fled here with my companions, don't know what village the place we're staying at is called. Where are you guys from, and where are you headed?"
"Are you in charge of the village?"
Scarface moved forward two steps, lit a cigarette, and stood by the roadside, casting a condescending glance at Yuwen, his face full of arrogance.
"Yo, depends on what you're referring to, sir. This old man has so modest expertise, indeed overseeing so internal affairs."
Yuwen spoke slowly, his mind racing, contemplating how to respond to their questions.
"Enough dilly-dallying, how many people are in your safety camp?"
Scarface blew out a mouthful of smoke and asked.
Yuwen made a thinking gesture, counted on his fingers, and said, "Eighteen, including kids, eighteen altogether."
This number was after careful consideration, too few or too many seed false. Finally, excluding Zhang Su and others who were out, he provided the real number on Celestial Horse Island, just in case they insisted on going uphill for a look, it wouldn't be a giveaway.
"Old man, you're not lying to , are you?"
The scar-faced man glared at Yuwen, his eyes fierce.
Yuwen spread his hands nonchalantly and pointed casually, saying, "Sir, if you don't believe , co with , and you'll see. I don't understand why there's any need for deceit in such matters."
"We'll identify the route later; first, let tell you what this is about. We're from the Cyan Dragon Corps in the north, and we are here to collect protection fees from your survivor camp, per person, fifty units of food per month. Here's the food list!"
Swoosh, the scar-faced man pulled out a relatively neat piece of A4 paper from his pocket and handed it to Yuwen.
Yuwen didn't voice any opinion right away, calmly accepting the list and looking it over.
Flour: One unit per pound
Pork: Two units per pound
Corn: One unit per two pounds
Potatoes: One unit per pound and a half
Sweet potatoes: Sa as potatoes
Vegetables: One unit per two pounds
Beef: One unit per eight ounces
Peanuts...
Fruits...
...
There were more than a dozen types of food listed, categories clear and organized, with additional provisions at the end, including special goods such as dicines, but these were generally of low value.
"Since these materials are protection fees in na, may I ask what protection you provide?"
Yuwen folded the list neatly into his pocket, showing great respect for it, yet his inquiry was neither humble nor aggressive.
The scar-faced man watched Yuwen's actions, initially wanting to lose his temper, but held back and said, "Do you have a radio transmitter? Our headquarters will receive broadcasts from various frequencies. If you don't, when you first hand over the food, we'll give you one. If zombies attack you, broadcast it, and our Cyan Dragon Corps will co to eliminate the zombies!"
Yuwen nodded with a respectful expression and probed, "Excuse , sir, how big is your Cyan Dragon Corps, and how strong are you? Can you handle zombie attacks of what scale?"
"You damn old man have a lot to say, why ask so much? We have over a thousand brothers and sisters in the Cyan Dragon Corps, several hundred of them are combat personnel, all ard to the teeth, handling a horde of ten thousand or so zombies is no problem. Let make it clear, we don't bother with zombie attacks under three hundred, if you can't handle it, then you'll just die!"
The scar-faced man impatiently kicked a stone on the road.
Over a thousand brothers and sisters...
Yuwen's heart skipped a beat, knowing for sure they were bragging, but to what extent it was hard to say, because even if halved and halved again, there were still two or three hundred people, which was a considerable survivor force!
Taking a step back, even if only one-tenth, that's a hundred people, and if they're all these kinds of ard folks, the threat is equally significant!
"Sir, don't be angry, I'm just trying to understand the situation clearly, to avoid any unnecessary interruptions."
Yuwen pondered deeply while maintaining a casual exterior.
The scar-faced man was unwilling to keep dithering with the old man, saying, "Co on, take to your camp for a look, we'll give you a week to prepare the food; delay a day, and fifty more units will be added, delay five days and lives will be at stake!"
Yuwen cooperatively showed a shocked expression, saying, "Oh my, sir, according to your standards, we simply can't produce nine hundred units of food per month. We only have sixteen laborers, and so are injured. How about a discount?"
Seeing the scar-faced man's face turn dark, Yuwen quickly added, "Sir, to avoid being unprepared when the ti cos to hand over the food, I'm stating the difficulties upfront, as I know the camp's specifics. With winter here, we are truly struggling."
"And you wouldn't want us to truly fail either. If we starve to death, who will pay the protection fees? As long as people live, they can hand over sothing, however small. Wouldn't you agree, sir?"
The scar-faced man didn't know Yuwen's profession and learning, but he was persuaded by the latter's words...
Indeed, the purpose of the Cyan Dragon Corps is to collect food, not to kill. If everyone died, wouldn't they still have to acquire their own food and clothing in the end?
"I didn't expect the old man to have so brains. No need to state the obvious, you must be in charge of the camp. Okay, we've talked; first ti, we'll give you a discount, eight hundred units, no more bargaining. Even with sixteen productive workers, eight hundred units of food isn't hard, in the apocalypse you have to strive to survive, or you simply aren't qualified to exist!"
The scar-faced man directly blocked Yuwen's intention to bargain further.
Yuwen wore a pained expression, saying, "Alright, eight hundred units, then eight hundred. Now, everyone, follow , that way."
Unexpectedly, the scar-faced man frowned at Yuwen's gesture towards Celestial Horse Island.
"Old man, you agreed too easily, are you trying to fool ?"
Before this, they had co from Qing County and found two survivor gatherings, negotiating the sa issue, but both encounters were very unpleasant, and the other parties had tried their best to hinder their entry into the gatherings. This old man in front of them was unusually enthusiastic, which made him feel uneasy!
Yuwen smiled openly, "Why wouldn't I agree? This is a pretty good deal."
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