361: drought

“The way the survivors looked at me was like they were looking at the corpse of a Black Hawk, which made me very uncomfortable.”

Zhu Xiaowu couldn't help but rub his arms:

“The survivors in Qingcheng wouldn't eat people, would they?”

Su Liuyuan clicked his tongue: “It’s not impossible.”

“Food is scarce now, and on our way here, we saw how dry and hard the land in Tai Province was; it didn't look like it could be cultivated at all.”

“There isn’t a single green plant here, not even a tree root that isn't rotten.”

“In such a harsh environment, survivors usually choose to prey on their own kind.”

Zhu Xiaowu’s expression changed: “If that’s the case, I’m afraid our mission to enter the city and install the locator won’t be very smooth.”

“After all, in the eyes of those survivors, we are walking food.”

“Don’t worry, we have guns and bombs; at worst, we can just send them off with a burst of bullets,” Su Liuyuan comforted Zhu Xiaowu.

At exactly six o'clock, Jiang Fei and the others returned to the car and set off.

Lu Yu was in charge of driving.

Jiang Fei took out several submachine guns, machine guns, and their corresponding ammunition from the Supermarket warehouse, and along with Su Liuyuan, she filled all the gun magazines in case of an emergency.

The closer they got to Qingcheng, the higher the temperature became.

The temperature gauge inside the car unknowingly reached 41℃.

Logically, Jiang Fei and the two others had experienced high temperatures, polar days, and extreme seasonal changes, and had adapted to any temperature.

However, at this moment, they were so hot they could barely breathe.

It was like three small fish thrown into a hot, ungreased pan, dry-fried, their skin almost charred.

The thirsty Su Liuyuan directly drank an entire bottle of water:

“I can’t do it, Captain. I need to turn on the air conditioning in the car. It’s too stuffy. I feel like I’m about to turn into a mummy.”

Su Liuyuan said, reaching for the remote control in the cabinet, but he froze after turning around.

“Captain, look outside…”

Jiang Fei looked out the window, following his gaze, puzzled.

The land by the roadside was slightly pale, showing cracks of various shapes.

At first glance, it looked like a giant spider web.

The drought in Qingcheng was even more severe than in Tai Province.

Even the Safety Shelter, where temperatures once reached 60℃, didn't experience such a severe drought as Qingcheng.

Suddenly, Lu Yu slammed on the brakes.

Su Liuyuan, who was standing, uncontrollably lurched forward, but fortunately, Jiang Fei pulled him back in time.

She asked Lu Yu, who was in the driver's seat:

“Why did you stop the car?”

“Someone is blocking the road.”

As soon as Lu Yu finished speaking, Xu Qianyao’s voice came through the car’s walkie-talkie.

“The man leading them looks very much like the person who went to pick up the eagle corpse last night.”

Xu Qianyao’s car was parallel to theirs, so he could see the survivors blocking the road ahead.

There were over a dozen hunched-back old people in total.

Only one middle-aged man was leading them.

Jiang Fei felt suspicious.

Sending old people to block the road?

Are they cannon fodder?

“Go around them.”

Lu Yu restarted the RV.

As soon as the car moved, the survivors rushed over, spreading their arms and standing in front of the car, clearly not wanting Jiang Fei and the others to leave.

Yan Tianjie, who was behind, originally wanted to take a detour and rush out, but his car was also blocked by two emaciated old men.

One of the old men even lay on the ground in front of Yan Tianjie's front tire.

The middle-aged man shouted: “If you want to pass, give us water and food first!”

Xu Qianyao turned on the loudspeaker on his RV:

“We are a special squad from the Huaxia Base, here in Qingcheng to carry out a mission.”

“If you don’t clear the way, we will resort to forceful measures.”

“I don’t care who you are! Even if the King of Heaven himself came today, he’d have to hand over supplies!” The middle-aged man stepped forward and slapped Jiang Fei’s RV:

“No supplies, and you can forget about your car!”

Others also slapped and hit the car.

Some tried to pull the door handles, found them locked, and then picked up dry, hard clumps of earth to smash the car windows.

“Kill them on sight.”

After Jiang Fei gave the order via walkie-talkie, she picked up a machine gun and opened the car door.

Da da da—!

The few survivors blocking the car door were instantly riddled with bullets.

Xu Qianyao, Zhu Xiaowu, and Yan Tianjie each got out of the car with a submachine gun, clearing out the survivors who were trying to climb onto the roof or hide under the car.

Before long, everyone was dealt with.

Su Liuyuan looked at the bodies on the ground, confused:

“These survivors are so strange. They didn’t run or show fear when they saw us with guns, as if they weren’t afraid of death at all.”

Xu Qianyao: “They’re probably starving and thinking of taking risks for riches?”

“Please save us!”

A tender voice suddenly rang out.

A boy, who had run from somewhere unknown, plopped down on his knees, raising his hands.

“Don’t kill me, I’m not with those dead people!”

The boy was about ten years old, wearing only pants, his exposed upper body dark and skinny, clearly showing every one of his bones.

“I was hiding there and heard everything. You are from the official government. I beg you, please save my sister.”

He bowed his head, kowtowing.

A few steps in front of him was a corpse.

The flowing blood had already formed a puddle on the ground.

The little boy took the opportunity to lick a large mouthful, swallowing it hastily.

He pretended to wipe away tears, but was actually wiping away the remaining blood on his face.

He thought he was being very careful, but everything was seen by Jiang Fei.

“What happened to your sister?”

“This goes back half a month ago…” The boy pretended to tremble with fear:

“Qingcheng inexplicably experienced a drought, and a kind of red-eyed Black Hawk that preys on humans appeared.”

“Every night, we would be attacked by flocks of Black Hawks and dared not rest, so we had no energy to find water and food during the day.”

“So those adults decided to choose an unlucky person as a sacrifice to the Black Hawks, hoping to get a night of peace and also find an opportunity to kill a few hawks for meat and blood.”

“Today, the sacrifice they chose is my sister.”

“My sister has already been tied up and is waiting to be fed to the hawks tonight.”

“You are official personnel, you will definitely save my sister, right?”

The little boy looked at everyone helplessly.

His pitiful appearance easily aroused sympathy in others.

But the Newborn Squad remained unmoved.

It was already the third year of the apocalypse, and they had seen all sorts of people; they no longer had the heart to meddle.

Xu Qianyao was still thinking of a reason to refuse.

Jiang Fei, standing next to him, spoke up.

“That’s right, I will help you save your sister.”

She wanted to see what these survivors in Qingcheng were up to.

Maybe she could kill them all at once.

To avoid them causing trouble again when they went to collect supplies.

Xu Qianyao was stunned.

When did Jiang Bandit become so soft-hearted???

Only Lu Yu understood.

Because he had also seen the little boy secretly drinking blood just now.

Fei Fei probably wanted to catch them all in one go, or figure out the purpose of these survivors.

The little boy stood up excitedly: “Thank you! I knew the officials wouldn’t abandon us!”

“Um, Sister, can you not use guns?”

“The sound of gunfire is too loud and could attract all the survivors in the city, surrounding you.”

“Okay.” Jiang Fei casually handed the machine gun to Xu Qianyao and quietly told everyone her plan.

“Qian Yao, you and Xiao Wu will wait for me here. I’ll go with that child to save people.”

Xu Qianyao nodded.

Yan Tianjie was very suspicious: “Can you do it alone?”

“Don’t push yourself and cause trouble for the team.”

Jiang Fei glanced at him sideways: “Then you come with me.”

“I’ll go then.”

He had to let Jiang Fei know today how strong he was.

And she was not worthy of being the leader of the Newborn Squad at all!

Su Liuyuan looked at Yan Tianjie with pity as he went back to the car to change weapons.

Why did you have to provoke the Captain?

Her taking you to save people clearly means she's up to no good!