Chang Jianyi, after confirming that Shen Feng and Yu Renshu were safe, left the interior of the dam. The base was still in disarray. Due to the battle that morning, almost everyone had missed lunch, and it was still early for the next meal. Many were boasting and chatting, while some children were imitating the adults by fishing. For the children, their only source of meat recently was the fish they could catch in the Yangtze River.
Seeing that the people in the base had nothing to do, Chang Jianyi said to Yang Chang, "Take a group of people to throw all the zombies on the dam into the river. As for the bodies of the combat team members, place them separately. Tomorrow, they will be buried on the banks of the Hezhou, and each person will have a tombstone. They died in battle and cannot be left exposed to the elements."
Yang Chang nodded quickly and, with the combat team, began clearing the zombies from the dam. The zombies were easily thrown into the water. As for the fallen combat team members, those who were lucky still had their bodies, while those who were unlucky were already mangled by zombie bites. Looking at the bodies of his comrades, Yang Chang couldn't help but feel down. Just a few days ago, they were all lively and well, but after one morning's battle, they had lost over three hundred men. How many more such battles would there be in the future?
"More brothers have fallen. It seems life is always unpredictable." Yang Chang was dejected. He had gradually become accustomed to seeing corpses, but watching his brothers die before his eyes, he still couldn't remain indifferent.
The bodies of the combat team members were dug out one by one from the piles of zombies and then transported to an open space in Hezhou. Zhang Xiaoqiang of the logistics team immediately led people to cover the bodies with white cloths. The first reason was to avoid scaring the children, and the second was to prevent birds and beasts from pecking at them. Perhaps due to the reduction in human activity, the number of birds and beasts had increased significantly recently.
Fortunately, apart from the mutated pythons, the Self-Aid Association had not encountered any other mutated beasts. Therefore, their enemies were still zombies. As long as humanity could kill all the zombies as quickly as possible, human society would eventually restore its original order.
Why were humans powerful? Naturally, it was because human intelligence far surpassed that of other animals. As long as other animals' intelligence did not match humans', they could never threaten human dominance. Even if zombies broke out among the human population, these zombies ultimately could not affect the survival of humanity.
It was the same with the previous wars where the army recaptured cities. In just one week, most provincial capitals were recaptured. The provincial capitals that had not yet been recaptured were due to special geographical conditions and were still in the process of being reclaimed. However, this demonstrated that under modern firepower, the primitive human sea tactics of zombies were no longer effective! This was why the army could quickly recapture cities and exterminate zombies.
However, there were simply too many cities in China at present. Apart from first-tier cities, there were countless second-tier cities, and third- and fourth-tier cities were even more numerous. With so many cities to recapture one by one, it was imaginable that this would be a slow process. Zombies would not surrender, and humans could not accept the surrender of zombies. The two sides could not coexist, so death was the only fate awaiting zombies.
As dusk approached, Chang Jianyi found Guo Pinming and began to inquire about what had happened that day. Guo Pinming honestly recounted the day's events. It was then that Chang Jianyi understood that Shen Feng and Yu Renshu were likely innocent, and the injuries on Yu Renshu's face when she was brought back were caused by Ren Jing.
Ren Jing was dragged back to the base by his feet. Although he had lost a lot of blood, he was still not dead. He was now tied to a tree. Yang Chang first beat him soundly before having someone stop his bleeding. While being beaten, Ren Jing continued to curse. Since he was already in such a state, begging for mercy was useless, so he continued to curse incessantly.
Yang Chang disliked hearing the man's voice, so he took off his socks and stuffed them into Ren Jing's mouth, rendering him speechless. As for the smell, only Ren Jing himself knew. And Ren Jing, unable to even die, could only endure the humiliation from Yang Chang and the others.
At this time, Shen Feng had also gradually woken up. Upon waking, Shen Feng felt a significant change in his body. It seemed different from before; his speed was faster, and his strength was greater. Shen Feng felt that he could kill a cow with his bare hands.
Shen Feng grabbed the bedside lamp and applied a little force. The lamp shattered, and Shen Feng felt exceptionally relaxed, as if it had been effortless.
The female students from the supervisory team outside the door heard the commotion and quickly came in to check. They discovered that Shen Feng had woken up, his abdominal wound had already healed, and Shen Feng was now removing his own stitches with his bare hands. The two quickly went to report to the vice president.
Upon hearing the news that Shen Feng was safe, Chang Jianyi rushed to the ward. However, as soon as she entered and tried to approach Shen Feng, she felt as if she had bumped into an invisible wall. Reaching out to touch it, she found that such a wall seemed to exist in the air.
Seeing Chang Jianyi appear, Shen Feng quickly retracted his ability and said, "Senior sister, you're here? This is a new move I've learned. I plan to call it 'Wind King Barrier.' This time I was ambushed because I lacked defensive means. Now, if I'm ambushed again, I'll be able to block these hidden weapons!"
Chang Jianyi asked in surprise, "How did you do that?"
Shen Feng was also not entirely sure, so he explained vaguely, "Actually, the air started flowing, which is why there was wind. So, as long as the air doesn't flow, a wall is formed in the air. It's roughly like that; I can't describe it any further."
Chang Jianyi looked at Shen Feng with great envy and said, "Is this the power of an ability user? I wish I could gain an ability too."
Shen Feng quickly comforted her, "After a few more days, you can just drink the serum, and then you'll gain an ability. Speaking of which, I threw the corpse king's head into a room in the city. I'll go get it back later and make ability serums. Then I'll give one to your brother and one to my family."
Chang Jianyi wasn't too concerned about this matter. She said, "As long as you're safe, nothing else matters. You mustn't take such risks again in the future, otherwise, if something unexpected happens next time, no one will be there to block the sword for you."
Hearing this, Shen Feng suddenly remembered that Yu Renshu still didn't know what was happening. He quickly asked, "Senior sister, where is the doctor now? Is she alright?"
"Of course, she's fine. She's already undergone her third evolution and hasn't woken up yet," Chang Jianyi said somewhat unhappily.
"Is that so? I'll go see her right away. I hope the doctor is safe and sound," Shen Feng said quickly and then walked out of the ward. Chang Jianyi glanced at Shen Feng with a complex expression and followed him. Yu Renshu was still lying in the ward, not yet awake. Her wounds had healed, and her swollen face from Ren Jing's slap had also recovered. When she woke up, she would still be a dashing and beautiful woman.
Guo Pinming's arm was in a splint, and it would take him at least another month to recover, as he was an evolved individual and his recovery speed was much faster than that of ordinary people.
Shen Feng, accompanied by Guo Pinming, walked around the base. The survivors, upon seeing Shen Feng, gradually calmed down. They had previously worried if their leader had encountered danger, but now it seemed their leader was safe and sound, which was good. The crisis in the base had been resolved, and the casualties here were not too severe.
However, when Shen Feng arrived at an open space covered with white cloths, he fell silent. Over three hundred combat team members had died, many with only severed limbs. It was impossible to even provide complete bodies for burial. Such a tragic scene was truly heartbreaking.
Guo Pinming said in a low voice, "Leader, these brothers will be buried tomorrow. The vice president said they will be buried on the banks of the Hezhou. They are all heroes."
"Let's bury them sooner rather than later, to prevent them from being gnawed by zombies or birds and beasts. However, I hope that future battles will not result in such heavy casualties!" Shen Feng said with emotion.
Guo Pinming glanced around and whispered, "Leader, if we had guns, we wouldn't have suffered such heavy casualties. So, do you think we should also..."
"Yes, I understand. After we recapture Luzhou, we will definitely find a way to get guns. It's already the 21st century, and we can't continue fighting with cold weapons!" Shen Feng naturally understood Guo Pinming's meaning. If they had possessed firearms during this battle, Shen Feng could have easily defended the dam instead of letting the combat team members fight.
Shen Feng then began to ponder how to obtain guns. He could certainly manufacture them himself, but he was unsure about the quality. What if they could only produce old-fashioned rifles with a firing rate that couldn't compare to automatic rifles? However, the army would certainly not give them guns, and according to their own words, they were also in short supply.
Shen Feng didn't dwell on the matter of firearms. After nightfall, he went directly into the city and found the corpse king's head. Fortunately, it was in a locked room, so no zombies had eaten the corpse king's brain. This meant that after making the serum, Shen Feng could cultivate two more ability users. Shen Feng planned to give these two serums to his family members, so they could have sufficient self-protection capabilities in this chaotic world.
In this chaotic world, having firearms certainly provided self-protection capabilities, but bullets would eventually run out. Therefore, abilities became very important. In a population of tens of thousands, there might not be even one ability user, and abilities never disappeared. From this perspective, abilities were definitely much better than firearms.
Shen Feng tested his newly developed moves in the city. After using the "Wind King Barrier," dozens of zombies rushed forward to bite him, but they stopped about two meters away from Shen Feng. They couldn't break through; the barrier formed by the air blocked the zombies' attack. The zombies seemed to hit an invisible wall, and their strength was insufficient to break through this wall.
Shen Feng sensed his stamina consumption and found that using the "Wind King Barrier" consumed much more stamina than "Wind Companion." His current stamina could only maintain the barrier for an hour before he would be completely exhausted. It was worth noting that Shen Feng had already evolved three times, and his stamina had undergone a qualitative leap. Yet, he still couldn't use the "Wind King Barrier" for an extended period, which Shen Feng couldn't understand.
"Keeping the air still consumes more stamina than letting the air flow. I completely don't understand!" Shen Feng muttered.
Afterward, Shen Feng quickly dealt with the surrounding zombies and left before the distant zombies could arrive. Shen Feng was now a man like the wind, reaching a speed of appearing and disappearing without a trace. It could be said that even if Shen Feng rushed into a zombie horde, no zombie could catch him.
When Shen Feng returned to the base, he handed the corpse king's head to the laboratory personnel to make evolution serums. He also received news that Yu Renshu had woken up and had become an evolved individual with three evolutions. Although she hadn't displayed her strength again, everyone knew that besides Shen Feng, the most powerful person was likely Yu Renshu.
Upon hearing the news of Yu Renshu's awakening, Shen Feng went to the ward to see how she had recovered, hoping she wouldn't have any psychological trauma due to Ren Jing. As for Ren Jing, Shen Feng planned to torment him slowly over time. Killing him with a single blow would be too simple!
In the peaceful era of the past, Shen Feng had not encountered any dangerous or disgusting situations. However, with the arrival of chaos, the suppressed sins had now erupted. Ren Jing was a living example. He was quite innocent back then, but after becoming an evolved individual, he became greedy and cruel. Even his comrades who had gone through life and death together had become pawns that could be discarded at will!
For such a scumbag, Shen Feng had no intention of killing him off easily. He planned to establish basic rules, and anyone who violated the rules, Shen Feng would kill them all!