Qin Shilei turned to Zhang Qiang and asked, "Aren't most of the zombies in Ning'an City already cleared out?"
Zhang Qiang looked surprised. "The army came in from the east and swept through most of Ning'an City. I thought they had wiped out all the zombies by now."
Just then, a non-commissioned officer ran over. "You're here to help build the defensive walls, right?"
Qin Shilei asked doubtfully, "Recruited?"
The NCO frowned. "Yes, our military logistics department arrived this morning and mobilized everyone to help build the defenses to protect our homes."
"Regardless of whether you were recruited or not, you are now conscripted for everyone's survival. Come with me to be assigned tasks by the officer."
Zhang Xiaoli said anxiously, "Excuse me, officer, we are just passing through Ning'an City. We are on our way home to save our parents, so please forgive us for not being able to respond to the conscription."
"Are you defying orders?"
The NCO immediately raised his gun and pointed it at Zhang Xiaoli, saying coldly, "How many comrades have we lost defending you? Now we're just asking for your help to build defenses, and you're making excuses."
"Hundreds of thousands of zombies are gathered outside the city. If the city falls, do you think you'll survive?"
"You're not building defenses for the military; you're building defensive lines for your own lives."
*Click!*
A few soldiers not far away saw their officer's actions and simultaneously disengaged their safeties, raising their guns towards Qin Shilei and his group.
Xie Haimei, seeing the opponent raise their guns, also prepared to draw her bow.
However, Qin Shilei stopped her.
He patiently explained, "Officer, we truly just entered the city today and are in a hurry to return to Tongquan City to save our loved ones. Please be understanding."
"What's going on?"
Just as the NCO was hesitating whether to let Qin Shilei go, an officer with stripes on his shoulder approached.
The NCO briefly explained the situation to the officer.
"Beep... Beep."
Before the officer could respond, a rapid horn blast suddenly came from afar.
"Tatak tatak."
"Boom!"
Gunfire and artillery fire erupted simultaneously.
Qin Shilei looked up and saw a dense horde of zombies surging towards the city.
"To your positions, hold them back!" the officer shouted, then turned and rushed towards a gap in the defenses, directing the soldiers to hold the line.
Zhang Qiang said thoughtfully, "There have been intermittent sounds of gunfire and artillery for the past two days; it must have been the military fighting the zombies."
Qin Shilei said in a low voice, "They're good men. Let's go."
The group, with heavy hearts, headed towards the east side of Ning'an City, planning to leave the city from there and take a large detour towards Tongquan City.
Upon reaching the east side of Ning'an City, they found several police cars on the street evacuating survivors.
"Warning, warning, survivors in Hedong District, please leave immediately for Xichang District. The military will demolish buildings between Xichang District and Hedong District to construct defensive lines."
"Warning, warning, survivors in Hedong District, please leave immediately for Xichang District. The military will demolish buildings between Xichang District and Hedong District to construct defensive lines."
Survivors emerged from various buildings and ran towards Xichang District.
"Something's happened."
Qin Shilei accelerated and sped out of the city.
Half an hour later.
Qin Shilei frowned, looking at the vast, dark mass of zombies in the distance, and said helplessly, "Let's turn back and head south."
Another hour later, they arrived at the south of Ning'an City.
This time, they didn't even get close to the outskirts.
The road had been blocked by military personnel with abandoned vehicles.
Zhang Qiang said with a somber expression, "It seems the zombies are surrounding us from all directions."
Qin Shilei speculated, "It appears the zombies' retreat two days ago was to conserve their strength and gather zombies from the surrounding towns to trap us like a turtle in a jar."
An Qian's brows furrowed slightly, and she guessed, "There's likely an intelligent zombie king among them, along with a considerable number of intelligent mutated zombies helping to control the horde."
Qin Shilei thought for a moment and said, "Let's continue to the north of Ning'an City to see if we can find the best spot to break through. If the situation deteriorates, we'll have no choice but to fight our way out."
He paused and then said to Zhang Xiaoli, "Xiaoli, you drive. I'll pick out some equipment for you all."
In the back seat, Qin Shilei first took out a piece of leather armor.
He didn't know where Dark Moon had gotten this padded armor made of high-fiber and alloy materials, which included a top, hat, and shorts.
This padded armor weighed 6.5 jin, being lighter and more aesthetically pleasing than bulletproof vests weighing over seven or eight jin, but its protective capabilities were far inferior.
[Attribute Refresh Available.]
[Refresh.]
Two white and one red attributes appeared on the breastplate.
Self-Cleaning (White): Can automatically clean itself, keeping the clothing perpetually spotless.
Fragrant (White): Emits a faint, pleasant scent that will linger on the wearer, making people mistakenly believe it's their natural body odor.
Battle Skirt (Red): Practicality is the ultimate standard for protective gear, but beauty is also essential. Choose me, and you won't be disappointed.
Since the system had spoken, Qin Shilei casually selected the "Battle Skirt" attribute.
The padded armor in his hands suddenly transformed.
The original green and yellow top and pants changed into a vibrant emerald green battle skirt.
At first glance, it looked like a skirt fashioned by gaming enthusiasts after their favorite game characters, elegant and noble.
When touched, it was soft yet resilient.
An Qian, sitting beside him, couldn't tear her eyes away from the battle skirt once she saw it.
Her right hand involuntarily reached out to touch the skirt.
Zhang Xiaoli, seeing the battle skirt appear in the rearview mirror, couldn't help but pull the car over and turn to look.
"Xiaoli, keep driving. This is for you."
Qin Shilei saw An Qian's disappointed expression and then explained, "An Qian, you have a Heavenly Silkworm Treasure Armor, while Xiaoli doesn't have any protective gear."
An Qian said sheepishly, "I just thought the battle skirt was so beautiful."
Qin Shilei put the battle skirt away, then thought for a moment and took out the rocket launcher.
[Attribute Refresh Available.]
[Refresh.]
One white, one green, and one red attribute appeared on the rocket launcher.
Accuracy (White): Slightly increases the readiness of rocket shells.
Self-Destruct (Green): Throw the rocket launcher and shell together, causing a self-destruct effect. The power and range are triple that of a normal rocket shell.
Auto-Reload (Red): Every two seconds, the rocket launcher will automatically reload a rocket shell. The type of rocket shell is random.
Qin Shilei had originally wanted a trump card like self-destruct to deal with powerful zombie kings; he hadn't expected to get unlimited ammunition.