You were supposed to hoard supplies, why the heck did you hoard zombies!

The population density varies, and so does the number of zombies.

Besides that, the conditions of the roads along the way and the extent of building damage are also extremely important intelligence.

"...."

"That's pretty much the situation."

"Other than fewer zombies, there isn't anything particularly special."

Wang Hu quickly gave an honest account of what he had seen and then waited for Zhang Ye to ask questions.

"Can you think of anything else?"

"For instance, did you see any animals on the street that looked unusually strange?"

Zhang Ye wasn't quite satisfied after hearing all this.

The memory of the giant Mutant Rat was like a thorn deeply embedded in his heart, sometimes even appearing in his dreams.

What swarmed towards him wasn't zombies, but rats the size of dogs.

They surged forward like a flood, overwhelming zombies, humans, and even the buildings on the streets in an instant, submerged by the tide that flowed from underground.

Yet until now, he hadn't seen a second Mutant Rat.

Or any other animals that had undergone similar mutations.

Where had they all gone?

Considering the number of zombies in the downtown area, there could only be two reasons.

Either they had all been eaten by zombies.

Or, driven by their instinct to seek benefit and avoid harm, these animals had all fled to other areas with relatively fewer zombies.

Like the old city district, where the population had drastically decreased over the years.

The place was full of vacant buildings.

To those wild animals, they were simply natural nests.

But after thinking for a long time, Wang Hu still couldn't recall anything amiss. Instead, it was Du Mei, who had been silently listening to their conversation from behind, that suddenly spoke up in a frail voice:

"Director Zhang, I think I saw a zombie disappear all of a sudden."

"What?"

No sooner had she finished speaking than Zhang Ye immediately perked up and asked, "Explain it in detail, what disappeared?"

"The zombie."

Repeated Du Mei.

As she spoke, a recollective expression appeared on her face.

"Just as we were about to leave the old city district, I saw an alley on the right-hand side."

"A second ago, there was a zombie there."

"The next second, it was gone."

Fear crept onto the woman's face as she spoke for she wasn't sure if she had seen it wrong and if speaking out might displease Zhang Ye.

Indeed, after hearing her words, Zhang Ye appeared somewhat disheartened.

He was clearly skeptical.

Still, he managed to show her an encouraging smile, "You've had a hard time on the way here. Go to logistics later and get something you'd like to eat."

Wang Hu, upon hearing this, instinctively wanted to refuse, but the woman next to him exclaimed with delight:

"Thank you, Director Zhang, thank you, Director Zhang!"

"I will do my best!"

Just as Zhang Ye was about to ask them to pay more attention to similar situations in the future, Xu Lin approached from a distance with a few people striding towards them.

He first greeted Wang Hu, then said with a serious face:

"The area around the hydroelectric power station has been mostly cleared."

"Shall we let them in now?"

The team members appeared excited.

Today was the first time the combat team carried out a mission without the help of zombie workers.

Zhou Hongbing, after becoming the head of the weapons research and development department, received his first task to make a set of equipment for each new soldier.

His expertise wasn't limited to making firearms.

Given the materials, producing a few swords and shields was a matter of minutes.

And these two seemingly simple items were exactly what Xu Lin and his team had agreed to be the most practical weapons and equipment in actual combat.

The machetes were made from 1055 carbon steel.

This type of steel was not only affordable but also offered decent strength and flexibility, so there was a huge stockpile on the market.

One could easily get a couple of tons from any hardware store or steel plant.

The shape of the blade was, on Xu Lin's suggestion, modeled after a certain foreign military saber, with an overall arc shape, a heavy tip and thick back, which made it easier and more efficient for chopping.

The shield, due to its simple manufacturing and singular use, was directly made from the most common stainless steel available on the market.

However, its size was much smaller than the explosive-proof shield, only about half a meter tall.

Its protective area was mainly the upper body.

Equipped with these two items, any member of a combat team could easily take down a zombie in a one-on-one situation.

Find adventures at empiren/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

If four members grouped together, they could even withstand an assault of more than ten zombies.

When they watched their past nightmares continuously fall at their feet, everyone's confidence soared immeasurably, and their adoration for Xu Lin and even Zhang Ye grew even more intense.

"Yes, boss!"

"Hurry and give the order!"

"The guys can hardly wait!"

Lachang stood behind Xu Lin, speaking excitedly.

Just moments ago, they had spent less than half an hour under Xu Lin's command to eliminate the horde of zombies that had been surrounding the entrance of the hydroelectric power station.

And that horde was made up of more than a hundred zombies!

Unscathed!

Such an accomplishment would have been unbelievable even to themselves had they not experienced it firsthand.

Now, only the zombies inside the power station remained to be cleared.

There were probably not more than twenty of them.

After all, the scale of the Huangshi Beach Hydroelectric Power Station was right there for all to see.

Logically speaking, the daily operations and monitoring here could be completed by just a dozen people.

After obtaining Director Zhang's consent, the combat team members, who had already been waiting at the entrance of the power station, broke through the main gate without a word, with two companions instantly holding up shields and charging in.

The courtyard was empty.

But the skeletons scattered all around made everyone's gaze falter.

The building in the center was the heart of the power station, the turbine hall, and its door was slightly ajar.

With a gesture from Xu Lin, the members of the combat team immediately surrounded the door.

"Zhou Yong, you take two men to find the control room."

"The rest of you, come with me."

After speaking, he led the way with a flashlight in hand, cautiously stepping inside.

Lachang and Ding Zhixiong, among others, followed closely.

Zhang Ye, however, did not enter.

Well, the situation clearly seemed a bit off; why would he go in?

He was the boss, not part of some daredevil squad.

But just standing there dumbfounded in the courtyard wasn't an option either.

Zhang Ye looked around and eventually decided to follow Zhou Yong with Ai Bing and three others to the control room.

If everything went smoothly, perhaps Luo Xin could get the hydroelectric power station back up and running on the spot.

The control room was quickly found.

But it too was full of skeletons and long dried bloodstains.

The equipment inside seemed undamaged, but there was one extremely critical item missing.

The key.

The security door, which appeared almost fused with the door frame, clearly couldn't be opened with a few knocks and a "clatter."

One would either have to dismantle the door to get in, or have the key.

But Zhang Ye had people search the surroundings for quite a while and didn't even find a single decent corpse.

So where was he supposed to find the key?