As night fell, the area near the泸州 military camp was quite noisy. Lights were set up in the plaza, and soldiers sat in groups of two or three, holding large bowls filled with stewed potatoes and dog meat. The day's battle had occurred at dusk, so everyone hadn't had a chance to eat dinner. Now, they were boisterously enjoying the mutated dog meat.
The soldiers had all heard that eating the flesh of mutated beasts could turn them into evolved individuals, so they were all desperately eating. Shen Feng had also declared that there would be enough dog meat for everyone that night. Thus, everyone abandoned their rice and focused on eating meat, believing that becoming an evolved individual would grant them greater strength.
Shen Feng and Chang Jianyi sat together to eat. Yu Renshu, meanwhile, was rummaging through a room next to the kitchen. This room was filled with fresh animal hides. In the day's battle, they had killed twelve hundred dogs, and their hides had been peeled off and piled here, intended for tanning and eventual crafting into fur coats.
Chang Jianyi particularly liked the fur of one of the Samoyeds and had reserved that pelt. She knew winter was approaching and planned to use the Samoyed fur to make a long coat. Shen Feng, on the other hand, favored the husky fur. He specifically instructed his subordinates to skin the huskies and place their hides in his office to be used as a rug. He had originally considered making a dog-skin armchair, but felt it was beneath him, as mountain kings typically sat on tiger-skin chairs. Thus, he decided on a rug, which he felt was more imposing.
In truth, Shen Feng quite fancied the tiger-skin armchair of Zuoshandiao, but unfortunately, there were no tigers in泸州, nor any zoos, so he couldn't find any tigers to hunt. The idea of a tiger-skin armchair would have to wait until a later date. For now, he had to make do with a rosewood armchair while reviewing documents.
Just as Shen Feng was eating dog meat with the soldiers, the phone suddenly rang. Yang Chang picked up the phone and asked, "What is it? Once some of our people are done eating, they'll go relieve you at your posts. You're not allowed to come back now."
However, a strange message came from the other end of the line: "Someone from Steel City is requesting support and wants to see the City Lord!"
"Steel City?" Yang Chang heard this news and dared not delay. Since it was people from another place, it was best to let the City Lord handle it. After all, Steel City's (Panzhihua) location was quite important, and he couldn't manage it himself.
Afterward, Yang Chang quickly informed Shen Feng, who was eating meat, of the news. Shen Feng found it very strange that people from Steel City were coming to seek aid. Not only was the distance between them and Steel City considerable, but Steel City didn't seem to have recovered yet. Why would people from there think of coming here for help?
However, Shen Feng was quite interested in the people from Steel City. After all, judging by its name, he knew it was a place that produced steel!
Therefore, Shen Feng had someone take the supplicants to the guesthouse near the city gate. He then brought Chang Jianyi along to question them. In reality, Shen Feng was already a third-tier ability user, and Chang Jianyi was also a second-tier ability user. Eating this mutated beast meat wouldn't be of much use to them. Moreover, if Chang Jianyi wanted to evolve, she would need a hundred bottles of evolution potions, and it would take some time to accumulate that many.
The two people who came to seek aid were young and strong. They had traveled by gasoline boat down the river from Steel City to泸州. They were also quite shocked to see the city, which had already begun constructing its walls. Compared to their own city, which they had not yet recaptured, this place was incredibly safe.
However, as soon as the two approached the city wall, they were immediately spotted by the sentries. The searchlight from the watchtower shone upon them, instantly making them the focus.
So, the two could only shout repeatedly, "Don't shoot, don't shoot, I'm one of us!"
Both of them saw the rifles carried by the sentries in the distance. Although these guards were not wearing military uniforms, their rifles were certainly not fake. To avoid friendly fire, they could only raise their hands high and shout loudly, indicating they were not enemies.
Then, some sentries came over, disarmed them, and took them aside for questioning, also reporting back to Yang Chang. After receiving a reply, they then escorted the people to the inn.
Ten minutes later, Shen Feng arrived at the inn and called the two men out to question them, wanting to know the reason for their request for aid.
Upon meeting the two, Shen Feng introduced himself: "I am currently the City Lord of泸州. You can call me Shen Feng."
"Greetings, City Lord," the two said respectfully after looking at each other.
Then, they introduced themselves. The two were named Li Yiqiang and Zhu Shiwen, both from Steel City. Steel City had been waiting for support for a long time, and the zombies were becoming increasingly powerful. After deliberation, the people of the Steel City base came to the nearest泸州 to seek aid. Although Kun City had been recaptured, it was high in the mountains and far away, with inconvenient transportation.泸州, on the other hand, was directly accessible by following the Yangtze River downstream, making it the simplest place to seek aid.
At this time, a sentry also said to Shen Feng, "City Lord, these two people had guns when they arrived, but they are old-fashioned rifles!"
Hearing this, Shen Feng immediately asked Li Yiqiang, "Where did the guns you have come from? Did the military issue you equipment?"
Li Yiqiang quickly replied, "We made them ourselves when our boss led us to recapture the steel plant. Our boss is a military enthusiast, so he knows how to make guns. However, the machines there are not good enough to produce precision parts, so we can only make old-fashioned rifles."
Shen Feng immediately understood. Steel City was a place that produced steel, and if someone knew how to manufacture firearms, they could indeed produce guns themselves. However, to have already started producing guns and still be unable to defeat zombies seemed a bit exaggerated.
"What is your boss's name? Does he only know how to build guns?" Shen Feng asked with a hint of disdain. "With guns already in hand, you still can't recapture Steel City?"
Shen Feng recalled his own past. At that time, they had over a dozen guns, but not a single bullet. In such a situation, they had completely relied on cold weapons to take泸州. He was surprised that other places, with guns, couldn't defeat zombies. Honestly, it was a bit pathetic.
Seeing the disdain on Shen Feng's face, Zhu Shiwen became angry. "City Lord, do you think we don't dare to fight zombies? To be honest, the zombies now are not the fools they were half a month ago! We only have two thousand guns, and the daily output of qualified guns is so low. Now, the zombies can flank us, and they even retreat when the situation is unfavorable. Are we supposed to block the zombies with our bare flesh?"
Li Yiqiang quickly added, "City Lord, please don't be angry. My brother speaks too directly. What he means is that you have such excellent equipment, you must have a way to support us, right?"
Shen Feng shook his head slightly and said, "That won't do. I must follow the headquarters' orders. Currently, headquarters has only instructed me to recapture surrounding counties and villages. I cannot disobey orders to help you at the steel plant. However, I'd like to know, doesn't Steel City have any ability users or evolved individuals?"
Li Yiqiang and Zhu Shiwen exchanged glances, seeing the doubt in each other's eyes. At this moment, they didn't know whether to speak or not.
Seeing their expressions, Shen Feng had already guessed. Steel City likely had ability users or evolved individuals, but these two had been given gag orders, so they dared not speak. Shen Feng felt a bit helpless in this situation. The underground websites were constantly discussing evolved individuals and ability users, yet these two treated it as some incredible secret and were reluctant to reveal it.
Therefore, Shen Feng extended his finger, and instantly, a gust of wind appeared, blowing the hair of the two men into slicked-back styles. He smiled and said, "Ability users, I am one too. Many people are discussing it now, so it's no longer a secret. Do you think there are only one or two ability users?"
At this moment, they were talking in a sealed room, but Shen Feng's outstretched finger and the ensuing whirlwind were enough to explain everything. Shen Feng himself was a powerful ability user, and the secret the two were hiding was insignificant in Shen Feng's eyes.
The two were shocked by Shen Feng's display. They hadn't expected this young man before them to be a hidden master. At this point, they could only choose to answer: "Our boss is an ability user, but what are evolved individuals? We don't know."
Seeing their ignorance, Shen Feng asked, "Evolved individuals are humans who have evolved. You already have guns, so after killing mutated beasts, haven't you eaten their flesh?"
Upon hearing this, the two men's faces turned somewhat grim. They slowly said, "We did kill a mutated beast, a mutated cat as big as a tiger. After killing it, an elder said that cat meat is not to be eaten, and that we would face retribution. So, no one ate it, and we threw the cat by the roadside to feed the zombies!"
Shen Feng heard this and felt both amused and exasperated. At a time of life and death, they were still worried about retribution! If the people in Steel City had eaten the mutated cat earlier, they might have had evolved individuals by now. And their words also indicated that there was actually only one ability user in Steel City, their leader.
"Logically speaking, even with only two thousand old-fashioned rifles, which can only fire one bullet at a time, you should be able to defend a base, right? You shouldn't have to come to me for help," Shen Feng asked, puzzled. He knew very well that even with two thousand rifles, it should be enough to defend a base.
Li Yiqiang said helplessly, "Since we discovered that the zombies started coordinating their attacks, we believed these zombies must be commanded. So, we hid near the steel plant. We could have held our ground, but a freak appeared among the zombies. There's a zombie that's incredibly fast and has bone spurs on its hands. It doesn't engage in one-on-one combat but constantly ambushes us near the steel plant. We've already lost over fifty people to ambushes!"
Shen Feng understood from this. Steel City likely had a second-tier speed-type zombie, also known as an S-type zombie. This type of zombie was indeed very fast. When he was second-tier, he could barely keep up with them, and ordinary evolved individuals were no match for them.
"Isn't your boss an ability user? Let him fight, he should be able to deal with a second-tier zombie," Shen Feng continued to ask.
Li Yiqiang and Zhu Shiwen looked embarrassed upon hearing this. After much hesitation, they finally told the truth: "Our boss's ability is to control oxygen. Besides being helpful during steel refining, it can do almost nothing else, so his combat ability is not very good."
Shen Feng burst out laughing. There were indeed all sorts of strange abilities. To have an ability that could control oxygen was truly bizarre. Such an ability indeed had poor combat effectiveness. Honestly, this ability was even more useless than his senior sister's accelerated plant growth, as at least his senior sister could control plants to entangle others.
However, Chang Jianyi suddenly recalled a classic comic and immediately asked, "Since your boss can control oxygen, why doesn't he use pure oxygen against the enemy? It should cause oxygen poisoning in the enemy. Doesn't your boss know this?"
"This... the oxygen concentration isn't high enough!" Li Yiqiang said somewhat awkwardly.
This answer was unexpected. He thought that anyone who gained an ability would become much stronger, but he didn't expect that this ability couldn't even control oxygen concentration. Such an ability was still too poor.
Zhu Shiwen then remembered an important point. Since泸州 couldn't provide them with support, why should they continue to waste time here? He then said directly, "City Lord, if you cannot help our Steel City, then forget it. We are preparing to return."
Chang Jianyi coughed lightly, and Shen Feng immediately reacted. He then smiled and said, "No rush, no rush. Let's have a meal first, and then you can go back. Speaking of which, I can give you some information about the outside world, not only about zombies and mutated beasts but also about evolved individuals and ability users. After you've eaten, I'll send you off."
Li Yiqiang and Zhu Shiwen both realized that although they hadn't received any support from泸州, at least they could take some information back! So, they immediately nodded in agreement, feeling deeply moved. They hadn't expected泸州 to be willing to give them information; they were truly good people!
Afterward, Shen Feng invited Li Yiqiang and Zhu Shiwen to the military camp for dinner. The two were indeed hungry and headed to the military camp to freeload a meal.
However, upon being brought to the military camp, the two were immediately astonished to see the soldiers eating. All of them were wolfing down the meat as if they were afraid they wouldn't get enough. Some fainted while eating, but the people around them were already accustomed to it. They immediately had people carry them away to rest in the dormitories.
Li Yiqiang watched in terror and said, "City Lord, did you put something in the food? Why are these people collapsing as they eat?"
Shen Feng smiled and said, "It's nothing. They've just evolved. By tomorrow, their stamina, senses, and speed will be enhanced. Then, any one of them can fight ten ordinary people!"
Li Yiqiang and Zhu Shiwen understood after hearing this. It turned out that the people collapsing were not drugged but were undergoing evolution. Both of them began to look forward to it. It seemed they would soon be able to eat mutated beast meat. If they could also evolve, wouldn't that be a huge profit?
Seeing the eager expressions on the faces of these two, Shen Feng knew that they had taken the bait. Shen Feng certainly wouldn't treat them to a meal for no reason. The reason he was inviting these two outsiders to eat mutated beast meat now was because he had his eye on Steel City's steel, especially since they could also produce guns. Even if these guns were old-fashioned, single-shot, and required reloading each time, they were still better than cold weapons. If they could also produce bullets for their own rifles, that would be even better!
Shen Feng had always been very economical with bullets. The assault rifles had not been able to fully utilize their potential because he dared not engage in sustained fire. Today, after killing over a thousand mutated dogs, they had used at least twenty thousand bullets. Yet, everyone had their excuses, and no one had activated automatic mode; they were all firing in bursts. It was just that they might have been targeting the same mutated dog, leading to an extremely high bullet consumption!
Shen Feng only had a million bullets. Now, before even setting out to recapture surrounding cities, they had already used twenty thousand bullets. At this rate, these bullets would at most be enough to recapture two cities. If he asked headquarters for more, headquarters' answer would be simple: none!
In this regard, Shen Feng was extremely helpless. With these bullets, how could they fight the millions of zombies throughout泸州? However, the entire country was short of bullets, and Shen Feng couldn't expect preferential treatment. But if Shen Feng could get Steel City to provide bullets, then the bullet problem would be solved, and things would be much easier.