83: Military fan He Kaige

Qin Shilei raised his beer, smiled, and said, “To everyone still being alive, cheers!”

Everyone raised their glasses in response, “To everyone still being alive, cheers!”

“To our acquaintance, cheers!”

“To this damn apocalypse, cheers!”

“To us possessing this unimaginable power, cheers!”

“To us living well in the future, cheers!”

Everyone frequently raised their glasses, and soon the floor under the table was piled high with empty beer bottles.

Everyone's physiques had been strengthened by absorbing crystals, and a few bottles of beer each only left them slightly tipsy.

After venting their emotions, everyone switched to sipping slowly and discussing the future.

Zhang Cheng first suggested, “He Shan District of Nanzhuang City, not far from here, has been conquered and a large base established with initial order. I think we could temporarily settle there.”

Zhang Qiang and Xie Haimei said indifferently, “Xie Haimei and I have no relatives left in this world. You are our comrades-in-arms through life and death. If we can stay together, that would naturally be best.”

An Qian and her mother looked at Qin Shilei.

Qin Shilei thought for a moment and said, “I’m a lone wolf here, so I don’t have a specific place I want to go. The place Uncle Zhang mentioned could be considered to see if it’s suitable.”

He paused, then continued, “In this apocalypse, there isn't a truly safe place yet. Only by becoming stronger can one survive better. My main focus will still be to go out and hunt zombies or mutated beasts everywhere to make myself stronger.”

“I want to become stronger too. You don’t mind adding me, do you?” An Qian said, then looked at her mother with some worry.

“Qian’er, go ahead. I support you.” He Yiyao gave her daughter an encouraging look.

“Qin Ge, can you take me with you too?” Zhang Xiaoli also quickly said.

Zhang Cheng and his wife’s gazes moved back and forth between Qin Shilei, An Qian, and their daughter, sighing that their daughter had finally grown up.

Facing the gazes of the two girls, Qin Shilei felt a bit of a headache.

He voiced his concern, “If you both go out with me, what about your parents?”

“This…” The two girls were instantly speechless.

Zhang Cheng spoke up, “I heard that the military in the base is also recruiting city defense members. By then, Li’er’s mother and I should join. In this world, it’s better to have an organization to survive.”

Zhang Qiang suddenly said, “Brother Qin, have you considered establishing a force? While being alone is free and easy, having a powerful force also has many benefits. At least many trivial matters can be delegated to subordinates.”

Qin Shilei frowned, “I’m too lazy to manage things. The highest official position I’ve held was a small group leader in elementary school. I feel clueless about establishing a force.”

Although establishing an organization has many benefits, one always has to consider this and that for the organization. Qin Shilei did not want an organization to trap him.

Zhang Qiang suggested, “We can first establish a small team, just us here. But we need a unified name for external purposes.”

Qin Shilei considered it briefly and nodded in response, “That could work. But what should our team be called?”

“Bedrock.”

“Annihilation Thunder.”

“Phoenix.”

“Nirvana.”

Everyone spoke out the team names in their minds.

In the end, everyone still chose the somewhat ordinary name, Bedrock.

They hoped the team could stand steadily on Blue Star like a bedrock.

The next morning, after breakfast, they drove the armored vehicle towards He Shan District of Nanzhuang City.

After driving two or three kilometers, they suddenly found dozens of zombies surrounding four people on the road ahead.

“Captain, should we go around or save them?” Zhang Qiang asked from the back of the vehicle.

“Save them. Just drive straight through. We can also earn some crystals along the way,” Qin Shilei said lightly, glancing ahead.

The group of ordinary zombies ahead simply couldn't stop the armored vehicle, this steel behemoth.

After one pass, there were thirty or forty zombies with missing arms and legs on the ground.

“Stop, you stop for me! Don't steal kills!”

Seeing that the armored vehicle was about to charge again, He Kaige quickly shouted loudly.

Steal kills?

Helping them out of good will, yet being mistaken for stealing kills.

When Zhang Qiang heard this, he immediately felt uncomfortable, so he stopped the vehicle, preparing to watch the show.

Upon watching, he realized that he really seemed to have the suspicion of stealing kills.

Although the four people were surrounded by zombies, they were not in chaos at all. Instead, they cooperated closely and quickly killed the remaining zombies.

Qin Shilei said to Zhang Qiang, “Let’s go. Don’t bother digging for those crystals.”

Zhang Qiang had just engaged the clutch, ready to leave, when He Kaige suddenly blocked the armored vehicle and shouted, “Stop, buddy, come down and talk for a bit.”

“What?” Zhang Qiang jumped down from the vehicle. “We don’t want any crystals. Are you still going to blame us for stealing kills?”

“That’s not what I mean.” He Kaige quickly waved his hand and said, “I just want to ask where you got this armored vehicle?”

Zhang Qiang said indifferently, “That doesn’t seem to concern you, does it?”

He Kaige said with a fawning face, “Big brother, I also want an armored vehicle like this. How about you sell it to me?”

He had been a military enthusiast since childhood, with an extraordinary love for military products.

After discovering that the two people in the cockpit were not soldiers, he eagerly hoped to obtain such an armored vehicle, which would be very beneficial in the apocalypse.

“Not for sale.” Zhang Qiang said coldly, then turned to get back in the vehicle and leave.

He Kaige quickly stopped Zhang Qiang, “I’ll offer a thousand catties of rice, and also bacon, ham sausages, and a whole bunch of other things.”

“Boss, it’s not worth it. Now there are luxury cars everywhere. We can just find any heavy truck and it can ram just as well.”

A skinny, monkey-like youth said with a pained expression, “That much stuff is enough for our people to eat for three or four months.”

Another youth with a tattoo on his arm also whispered, “Boss, how about I call Brother Qi, and we just snatch it?”

“Shut up.”

He Kaige glared at his subordinate, then turned and smiled at Zhang Qiang, saying, “Supplies are getting harder and harder to come by now. The price I’m offering isn’t low.”

If it weren’t for the pre-apocalypse mindset still constraining him, plus the high possibility that the other party was related to the military, he would have tried to snatch it.

“Not interested. Move.” Zhang Qiang reached out and pushed the other party aside.

“Plus a green metallic ability crystal.” He Kaige said with a pained expression.

“Oh.” Zhang Qiang was somewhat surprised that the other party was willing to spend such a large sum.

An armored vehicle is ultimately an external object, only useful on roads. Its greatest value is for long-distance raids, as it can protect the occupants well.

But ability crystals and crystals are things that can truly enhance one’s own strength.

Without knowing if the machine guns and cannons on the armored vehicle still had ammunition, being willing to exchange like this made it seem like the other party really liked this armored vehicle.

Seeing Zhang Qiang’s expression, He Kaige thought there was hope and was about to continue persuading.

His subordinate quickly pulled him and advised, “Boss, you can’t exchange that.”

At this moment, Qin Shilei also got out of the vehicle compartment, “No exchange.”