Chapter 54: Chapter 54: Coming to the Door
Five mountain off-road motorbikes arrived, followed by a police bulletproof prison transport, with the motorbikes leading the way.
The motorbikes stopped and waited for a while, then the Iveco bulletproof prison transport caught up, and seven or eight people got on and off.
Each of them was armed, all carrying G6 rifles, which are difficult for ordinary people to obtain, typically available in military or security forces.
They came from Daqing Mountain Prison, a sizable facility with over ten thousand inmates and a plentiful stock of firearms.
Xing Hai and his group surviving the apocalypse and making it swiftly to Daqing Mountain was indeed clever, a stroke of fortune.
The people on the motorbikes were mostly ferocious-looking, including some of his former supervisors and inmates rescued by them, joining Xing Hai’s team.
There were two leaders, one called Lao San, who was Xing Hai’s sworn brother.
The other was a bald man named Wang Huining.
These two got off the motorbikes and marveled at the train unit.
Lao San said, "Baldy, Jiang Shilong’s got some skills. We took over Daqing Mountain Prison and only got four police prison transports. This guy managed to get a train; he’s incredible."
Lao San was tall and sturdy, over 1.9 meters in height, as strong as a gorilla, with a pistol at his waist and a massive sliding blade strapped to his back.
The blade appeared custom-made, weighing over fifty pounds, and while it would be a burden for an average person, it was nothing to him.
The bald man, Wang Huining, nicknamed Baldy, was not tall or robust, but his head was unusually large.
He had no hair on top, shiny and slick, seemingly natural.
Wang Huining tried to pull the train door, but it wouldn’t budge.
Lao San walked over, yanked with force, and actually pulled the locked door open!
This was clearly beyond normal human strength, yet those around appeared unfazed.
Baldy stepped onto the train.
With one glance, he confidently declared, "This train was brought here after the apocalypse."
Lao San glanced: "Obviously, this place is near Chengguan Town. Isn’t it Jiang Shilong?"
Baldy shook his head: "I doubt it."
"Oh, why?"
Baldy looked towards Chengguan Town: "According to Boss Xing, Jiang Shilong awakened a speed superpower and was just a thug before. How could he operate a train? Also, he only acquired guns from Chengguan Town’s police station; where would such intense gunfire come from?"
Lao San was stunned: "Gunfire? I didn’t hear anything."
"Ha! If you heard, you would have my superpower. The shots came from that direction, dense, implying at least fifty armed people."
Baldy pointed into the town, precisely where Ye Fan’s team was clearing out zombies.
However, it was far from Donghua Grand Restaurant and seven or eight kilometers away; only he heard the gunfire.
Though others didn’t hear, they unwaveringly trusted Baldy’s words.
"Baldy, if you’re right, this is huge. From what we know, there are only seven or eight sizable bases in Coal City, none here. Who carries so many guns?"
Baldy inspected the train, then listened carefully outside.
"By the gunfire, there’s rifles and machine guns, with firepower surpassing ours. Ordinary survivors couldn’t gather such arms. Remember Shengshi Jiangshan District’s incident?"
Lao San was taken aback, then understood: "You mean, the soldiers?"
"Exactly, besides them, who else could have so much firepower?"
"Are there really that many soldiers? Is the army still around?" Lao San struggled with the idea, as the army’s return would end their reign.
"It shouldn’t be. Reports say the army’s site was another disaster zone. A meteor supposedly hit the camp during lunch. Even survivors were minimal. I guess a few soldiers organized survivors."
Hearing Baldy’s speculation, Lao San was relieved: "What now? Still seek Jiang Shilong?"
Baldy snorted: "If alive, Jiang Shilong would have contacted Boss Xing. Perhaps he’s been eliminated."
"Should we return?"
"No, remember, bigger risks mean bigger chances. We’re beyond ordinary, coming from Daqing Mountain to turn back isn’t viable. We should check it out; we might seize an opportunity."
Lao San gritted his teeth: "You’re right. With our abilities and the brothers’ firepower, we can handle small forces. Let’s go."
The group left the train, mounted the motorbikes, and headed straight for Chengguan Town.
********
The zombie-clearing operation wasn’t going smoothly.
Not long after the battle started, an Agile Zombie appeared. New recruits had poor aim, and in continuous fire, bullets blew up a car, causing a chain of explosions in nearby vehicles.
Though Sniper Lin Qing took down the Agile Zombie, the rising fireballs attracted zombies from half the town.
Ye Fan initially aimed to lure less than three thousand zombies for his team to handle comfortably.
But now, a huge wave of seven thousand or more appeared.
"We might have to fight overnight,"
Against so many zombies, two platoons weren’t enough. Ye Fan immediately ordered the squad following him into battle.
The squad consisted entirely of Three-star Soldiers, with ample ammunition. Once engaged, the zombie advance slowed.
But it wasn’t enough. There were many newly produced Starless Soldiers with limited ammo capacity, running out quickly.
Ye Fan ordered everyone to preserve three bullets before retreating from the battlefield.
He decided to have Snipers and Rocket Launcher Warriors from the hotel and police station replace them.
The capability gap between Starless and Three-star Soldiers was vast, with incomparable bullet capacity.
Without replacement, the zombies wouldn’t be eradicated.
Moreover, Ye Fan believed a position shift was necessary for Flamethrower Warriors and Rocket Launcher Warriors to perform outside the vehicle debris. They needed to gather resources among the zombie carcasses for insurance.
Under Ye Fan’s command, the troops moved towards Chengguan Town Middle School, offering open space for Flamethrower Warriors to fire freely.
The battlefield shifted away from the police station and the grand restaurant.
Ye Fan’s Fierce Dragon Vehicle joined the fight, equipped with a machine gun on board.
New soldiers out of bullets helped Ye Fan gather resources.
Soldiers busied themselves while Ye Fan monitored the Tank Factory’s construction progress.
Only ten minutes until the Tank Factory’s completion.
"Commander, these are the gathered resources, please have a look!"
A new soldier handed Ye Fan a bag of jewelry.
Over two thousand zombies were eliminated in this area, yielding numerous pieces of jewelry.
Ye Fan immediately instructed Nana to convert the jewelry into Money.
"Conversion complete, received Money 4650!"
Ye Fan rejoiced internally; indeed, dealing with zombies was profitable. Today’s battle might earn him over ten thousand Money.
However, he didn’t use it right away since the Tank Factory was nearing completion. He awaited new developments.
Even if not producing tanks, he wanted to create the most powerful unit Nana mentioned.
Opening the Red Alert page again, Ye Fan watched the Tank Factory’s progress attentively.
At this moment, he noticed over a dozen blue dots appearing on the map!
More than a dozen survivors closing in on the police station!