Chapter 807: Deserted Buildings

“I’ve heard about the Water Bear organization for a long time, but I really didn’t expect the boss of Water Bear to be so steady. Old Huo, you’re the most composed person I’ve met in the apocalypse, bar none!”

Ding Wei praised sincerely, then fished out a white wax pill from his pocket.

“This is a pill a buddy from Absolute Justice researched in the past. If a conflict breaks out, you can eat a little, about one-tenth, and afterwards you’ll be incredibly strong! The outside is wax-sealed, so don’t eat that. Crush it and eat what’s inside!”

Considering they were in the same boat, Ding Wei generously gifted Huo Jinggang a Strength Pill.

Huo Jinggang took the wax pill and looked it over, then stuffed it into his pocket, slightly lifting the corner of his mouth and nodding to Ding Wei, “Thanks.”

While talking, as the convoy approached Lego Mall, Ding Wei suddenly noticed something was off, muttering in surprise, “Something’s not right, we’ve reached here, but there’s no guards?”

The entrance of Lego Mall was in sight, yet there wasn’t even a hint of human presence, let alone guards.

Huo Jinggang slowed down the car, looking around and commenting lightly, “It is strange, it feels like there’s absolutely no one here!”

In fact, not only zombies, sometimes people have this mysterious perception of others, and at this moment, Huo Jinggang had an eerie feeling as if he’d entered a ghost town.

Ding Wei’s gloomy eyes looked around, then he slapped his thigh, “Damn, they must’ve all run away!”

The mall’s wide-open doors, shattered glass curtain walls, no human corpses or zombie bodies could be seen, only debris scattered by shockwaves, everything indicated that no one was here!

The vehicles stopped steadily on the road in front of Lego Mall, everyone began to disembark, holding guns. Among them were three or four who had visited Lego Mall after the disaster broke out, but didn’t expect to find it deserted upon returning.

Crack, crack-crack.

The group walked to the broken glass curtain wall and lit up flashlights to shine inside, revealing a chaotic mess.

“These broken places were smashed by cars.”

A member skilled in reconnaissance examined the broken marks on the glass curtain wall and solemnly declared, “This place must have been attacked by zombie hordes after that snow! There was a fierce conflict here…”

“Yeah, although it’s been cleaned up thoroughly, those scrape marks on the ground haven’t been wiped away. Quite a lot of people must have died back then!”

Another person rubbed the already darkened blood stains on the floor with his foot, shaking his head continuously.

“Justice served! Haha, it’s karma.”

Ding Wei was delighted by this assessment, kicked a broken composite board with indignation, and exclaimed angrily, “When I sent my brothers to the Survivor Alliance to negotiate a partnership, they were all tricked. Luckily, I was cautious, or else I’d be dead by now. Didn’t expect they’d face this day too! Truly, karma’s a cycle, it’s better that they’re all dead, serves them right!”

Many of those present watched Ding Wei’s rant and yelling in the hall with cold eyes, not liking his attitude.

“Former Leader Ding of Absolute Justice… We came out this time to seek external aid and negotiate cooperation, them all being dead doesn’t do us any good, isn’t it a wasted trip, and then having to face hundreds of thousands of zombies. Do you really think this is good?”

One core member from the original Last Hope couldn’t help but speak, nearly cursing him out.

Hearing the dissent, Ding Wei’s exaggerated laughter abruptly stopped, feeling displeased in his heart, with a sinister look fleetingly appearing in his eyes, but quickly concealed. This isn’t the time to get angry!

He knew well that he was no longer in Absolute Justice, this was a newly merged organization, if a conflict started now, he wouldn’t gain any benefits.

Ding Wei turned around with a smile, “Just venting some personal feelings, brother, don’t mind. I was just joking. They’re definitely not dead and have probably retreated to a safe place.”

“Exactly!”

A middle-aged man proficient in reconnaissance emerged from the darkness, wiped his cold cheek, and said in a deep voice, “No zombie corpses, no human corpses, some areas have been cleaned up, they evacuated very methodically and orderly, not in panic, they’re gone!”

“Why abandon such a good place…”

“Surely something happened that we don’t know about.”

“Is it still necessary to search here?”

The group discussed amongst themselves until a man in a yellow plush hat finally spoke.

Huo Jinggang shook his head slightly, “We’re looking for people, not supplies, and it seems the Survivor Alliance evacuated calmly, they must’ve taken anything useful with them.”

“Survivor Alliance is the largest force in the northern part of Qin City, even they retreated, the city must be empty, where should we head next?”

Ding Wei was very cunning, instead of waiting for others to ask him, he was the first to pose the question.

“Old Ding, you said you’ve taken down the Apocalypse Corps, and now the Survivor Alliance has moved away. Therefore, only Little Eagle Association and Civilization Guardian remain in the north. Little Eagle Association is on the west side in a community called Xinglong Hua Mansion, Civilization Guardian is in the east camp area, two places one east one west. You decide where to go next.”

Huo Jinggang was very clear on the distribution of forces in Qin City and only provided the intelligence, leaving the decision-making rights to Ding Wei, seeming to avoid blame.

Ding Wei naturally saw through Huo Jinggang’s ploy; they both were responsible for the team. Since the other party had provided information, it was only right for him to make the decision. So he thought for a moment, then his eyes shifted and he said, “Zhao Linfeng was absolutely right, Old Huo, your understanding of Qin City’s situation is impeccable. So, do you know which is closer? Let’s go to the closer one first.”

Huo Jinggang didn’t mind the question being thrown back, nodding slightly, “Alright, then we’ll head to Xinglong Hua Mansion first. Little Eagle Association’s headquarters is in the community’s kindergarten.”

“Alright, let’s head out.”

The group got back in the cars, set the route, and drove to Xinglong Hua Mansion, the trip short, taking only five or six minutes. Everyone looked at the deserted kindergarten, feeling dejected.

Setting out again, this time heading east to the camp, the distance somewhat farther, but fortunately there were no zombie attacks, covering seven or eight kilometers in less than fifteen minutes.

The familiar feeling, the same formula, all the group saw were empty buildings, but this time there was something more, human bones…

“These bones were left after zombies gnawed them, but… these people didn’t die from zombies, they died before being devoured by zombies, from hot weapons!”

The middle-aged man skilled in reconnaissance held a gruesome skull in his hand, the congealed flesh marked with a conspicuous bullet hole.

Gathering evidence from clues, he concluded, “There must have been an armed conflict here previously, one side suffered a crushing defeat, bodies abandoned here, later a zombie horde passed by and devoured them! The time between the zombie horde’s arrival and the people’s departure didn’t exceed two days, because zombies aren’t interested in corpses over two days old, they won’t eat them.”

“Zombies are picky eaters? Damn, I didn’t know that before!”

Someone exclaimed.

Ding Wei smoked dejectedly on the camp’s playground, indifferent to the ongoing discussions, knowing they’d come up empty-handed again, feeling frustrated.

“Leader Ding, should we head to Mountain and Sea District or Qing County next?”

Huo Jinggang approached Ding Wei, not caring about his mood, and asked without hesitation.

“Phew!”

Ding Wei tossed the cigarette butt and extinguished it, furrowing his brow in thought, then said, “Since Mountain and Sea District is close, of course we’ll go there first, then circle through Qing County and come back.”

“There’s something I need to remind you.”

The man skilled in reconnaissance stepped forward after Ding Wei’s decision, “From what I understand, it’s highly likely the explosion occurred in Mountain and Sea District, so the situation there won’t be optimistic. Ultimately, the decision is still in your hands.”

His words left everyone exchanging glances.

“Damn, an explosion like a rabid dog surely flattened Mountain and Sea District, killed all the people, why bother going there, let’s head straight to Qing County, deliver the message and we can return tonight!”

Hearing this, Ding Wei thought, what? The explosion happened in Mountain and Sea District, which is perfect, making it justified to skip a location, splendid, wonderful!