As Lin Yuan and his group were contemplating how to deal with this crowd, the crowd was also discussing how to handle the newly arrived group.
In the heavy rain, the group moved forward rapidly, wearing raincoats. All the raincoats were black. Upon closer inspection, most of the black was dye that wouldn't fade in the rain.
No one made any unnecessary sounds; the silence was somewhat abnormal.
Suddenly, the person at the front raised his hand, signaling everyone to stop.
"Everyone find cover or get behind the guardrail!"
Upon hearing the command, they reacted quickly, looking at the highway guardrail or finding wreckage of vehicles on the road to use as cover.
The zombies inside had long since been burned into skeletons.
"What's wrong, Brother Yun?" a man who appeared rather thin even in his oversized raincoat asked as he approached.
The man called Brother Yun narrowed his eyes, looked around, and found nothing unusual.
"Monkey, it's nothing. I just got a tingling sensation, like I'm being watched."
After waiting there for a while longer, there was still nothing unusual.
"Alright, let's continue."
"Wait, Brother Yun, are we really going to take down this group? Isn't that too risky, after all, they have..."
The latter part of his sentence remained unspoken, but Brother Yun understood Monkey's meaning.
"It's fine, we have guns too! Besides, this time we'll just observe. If they're well-alerted, we'll go back. Looking at them, they might be taking our route, so we'll use the houses on both sides of the road to ambush them.
If they're not vigilant, we'll just take them down. Five cars, they should have a lot of food. If we're lucky, there might even be two or three women. We can distribute them among the brothers to satisfy their cravings.
What's more, didn't one of the women at home mention that there's a little girl at that service area, only in junior high? She must taste really good."
To survive, revealing someone else's secret was not impossible.
"Gulp," Monkey and the others swallowed, their throats bobbing. Two of the captured women had already died, leaving only three beautiful ones. The wolves outnumbered the meat, not enough to go around.
They had been so careful not to use too much force during their encounters in the past few days, protecting them dearly.
"What about home?" Monkey was still a little uneasy.
"Home is fine. Your sister-in-law is there guarding it, so it's okay."
Lin Yuan's group also ventured out into the heavy rain, coincidentally missing them and leaving no trace of their passage.
Monkey nodded at the words. Although his sister-in-law wasn't beautiful, her character was top-notch fierce, so there shouldn't be any problems at home.
He wondered how Brother Yun had managed to earn so much money transporting ice back then, almost becoming all-powerful in Fan City, and what had made him fall for a woman like his sister-in-law.
He dared not ask. Most of these people had followed Brother Yun since back then. Their line of work had always been severely cracked down upon by China. Brother Yun was a shrewd character; he knew when to quit and moved to the countryside to build a small village, intending to live a good life without doing anything bad.
Then this damned apocalypse arrived. They hadn't even enjoyed a few years of peace before their entire village of over seven hundred people was reduced to only 35 survivors.
He shook his head, sighed again, and followed Brother Yun closely to scout the new convoy.
Of course, Lin Yuan's group didn't know they had already been spotted upon arrival. Even if they did, it wouldn't be surprising. This highway wasn't always sandwiched between two mountains; there were always places with flat terrain and wide views.
"Qing Tian, what was that just now?"
Moments ago, Mu Qing Tian had suddenly retracted her gun and signaled Lin Yuan and the others to lower their bodies.
What could have caused Mu Qing Tian to act like that?
"Captain, that group is a bit strange. When I was observing them just now, they acted as if they had spotted me and quickly took cover. Could they have clairvoyance or super hearing?"
As soon as she spoke, she felt it was ridiculous. They were over 500 meters from the highway exit at that time, and now they were even farther. Jiang Zi Qi's enhanced hearing range was only about 100 meters, with an effective range of only 70 meters.
Were there people in this group even more capable than Jiang Zi Qi?
Lin Yuan also found it unlikely and explained, "Perhaps someone in their group has a very accurate sixth sense and sensed something."
Well, that sounded even more far-fetched.
However, there were always special people and events in this world. Lin Yuan didn't dwell on it.
"Alright, don't think about it. Did you get a clear look at how many of them there were?"
Mu Qing Tian nodded and replied, "I saw them clearly. There are 20 people in total, with 6 of them holding guns. I couldn't make out the model, but they should be Type 95s. I don't know the number of handguns, and I couldn't see their faces."
Lin Yuan didn't blame her. The visual range of a 4x optical scope was 400 meters. Coupled with his own observation, being able to see the number of people and guns was already quite good.
"We'll follow at a distance and act when the opportunity arises. Qing Tian, keep an eye on them. Zi Qi, you watch the rear with me. Do you understand?"
"Understood."
"I'll follow Brother Lin Yuan."
He didn't pick up the binoculars to look; the weather made it difficult to see clearly, and they weren't military grade.
Instead, he sat in place and waited for a while. After Mu Qing Tian said it was okay to follow, he half-crouched and followed.
At the same time, he turned on the walkie-talkie and reported the situation to the convoy: "Convoy, convoy, please respond."
"Convoy received, please speak," Wu Tian's voice came through the Bluetooth headset.
"We have tracked this group. They consist of 20 people, with 6 long guns. The number of handguns and other portable equipment is unknown. All members are wearing black raincoats. You there, be prepared. Remember the physical descriptions Liu Meng Meng gave. As soon as you spot them, do not wait for backup, neutralize them immediately!"
"Understood! By the way, Captain, make some markings on your raincoats to prevent friendly fire."
"Okay, I got it," Lin Yuan released the speaking button and beckoned Jiang Zi Qi to follow Mu Qing Tian closely.
The scene shifted to the service area. The team members who had received Lin Yuan's intelligence were ready. Under the arrangements of Wang Zhihai and Wu Tian, they ascended to the third floor of the supermarket, each guarding a window.
Wu Tian, as the sniper when Mu Qing Tian was not present, had now moved to the roof of the supermarket's rooftop building, aiming his gun. The field of fire directly covered the entrance to the service area.
This was not only covered by satellite dishes receiving television signals but also by some miscellaneous items used for camouflage.
This way, they could turn and prevent sneak attacks.
The team members had already checked; from below, it was impossible to tell that someone was lying on top. From farther away, it was even less visible, only showing some messy bricks and satellite dishes.
This was the benefit of having advance information.
Yun Ge's group had also collected walkie-talkies, but they were out of battery. Batteries were hard to find, and there were no delivery trucks stopped at the service area, so they could only be thrown into a box as scrap metal.
The heavy rain showed no signs of abating. Yun Ge and his group had arrived near the service area.
"Brother Yun, I've scouted it. There isn't even a sentry. Should we just take them down?" Monkey asked after scouting the area with his men and finding nothing.
"Hmm, no rush. Send someone to sneak in and see what the situation is. It's possible they've already fled."
Monkey understood and quickly made a gesture for two of his subordinates to sneak in.
As the two men entered, they headed directly behind the flower beds and green belts. Such stealthy behavior suggested something was amiss. Wu Tian, on the rooftop, immediately aimed his crosshairs at the approaching men, his finger already on the trigger.
However, they delayed their actions, merely observing. Wu Tian realized something was wrong and quickly notified the team members ambushing inside.
"Brother Wang, the people coming in are acting suspiciously. Take Zhao An Jing and Lin Qing Yan down with you, and bring some women's underwear. Pretend we're drying clothes after getting caught in the rain and see what their intentions are.
Everyone else, be ready to fire at any moment. If you're scared, put your guns down, to avoid problems, understand?!"
Since Liu Meng Meng had mentioned that group was fierce and lustful, it was worth a try.
"Understood!" The hushed "Understood" was passed along. No one wanted to be a coward and put their guns down now.
There was still a fire burning on the first floor, not yet extinguished.
Wang Zhi Hai said nothing and went down with Lin Qing Yan and Zhao An Jing, carrying a pile of women's underwear. There were many in the storage area on the second floor; among all the items in the service area, clothing was the most abundant.
The two observing outside stealthily were already losing patience, but the next second, their eyes widened. They saw a man in a SWAT tactical suit protecting two women whose figures and appearances were discernible even through the supermarket's glass walls.
Charming~
Those who understand, understand~
The two exchanged glances, both feeling that there was potential.
They quickly took advantage of the heavy rain and the fact that the man inside hadn't spotted them, and quietly withdrew.
Outside the perimeter wall, Yun Ge's eyes also lit up upon hearing this news, feeling quite tempted: "There are SWAT officers." Brother Yun pondered for a moment and came up with a plan: "In that case, we'll go for this score. Monkey, choose a few men who look normal and disguise yourselves as survivors. Keep your handguns hidden and make contact with them. Lure out the people who have guns.
Monkey, we'll go around to the back and get to the second floor to take the women hostage. We'll use the same passage as last time. These people are new here, they definitely don't know about this place."
Monkey also had a sudden realization and exclaimed, "This plan is brilliant!"
Yun Ge's face was full of strategic planning. He knew the disposition of those police officers; as long as they held hostages, they would panic. At that moment, his brothers disguised as ordinary survivors would launch their attack.
"Hehehe..."