51: Xingyang Base

A little over a month since the zombie outbreak (specific days will no longer be recorded hereafter).

Yuzhou Province

The thick concrete walls cast long shadows under the dim evening sun, like a silent scar stretching across the land of Yuzhou.

Xingyang Base

Tens of thousands of people were sheltered here. As a major central province with a large population, Yuzhou's standing provincial military force was larger than that of most provinces. Even after experiencing the crisis of the first wave of the zombie outbreak, they retained tens of thousands of troops, a significant amount of light and heavy firepower, and aerial units, successfully protecting this heartland of the Central Plains.

However, the population of Yuzhou reached as high as 350 million, with the provincial capital Xinzheng and the second-largest city Luocheng having populations of eighty million and sixty million, respectively.

Xingyang still had a buffer of over two hundred kilometers from Xinzheng, but it was only a hundred kilometers away from Luocheng. This city of ten million zombies, sitting right on their doorstep, was like the Sword of Damocles hanging over their heads. Small-scale zombie riots were like an unceasing tide, striking the base's fragile nerves wave after wave, ensuring that the brows of the base's two helmsmen—Li Tianhua, the former Governor of Yuzhou, and Wang Yao, the Military Region Chief—never truly relaxed. The Central Military Region was too busy looking after itself, and Kyoto Base was too far away to help with the immediate crisis.

Xingyang Base had not cultivated many Evolvers, only about eighty, with a mere seven powerful ones from the Superpower System. The work of taking in survivors at Xingyang Base was becoming increasingly difficult, and food was running low. Li Tianhua, a Governor in his forties whose temples were already as white as frost, tossed and turned on his cold bed every night. Only one question churned in his mind: tomorrow, what would he use to fill tens of thousands of hungry mouths?

Yuzhou's vast fertile fields were once the nation's granary, but now, who dared to step outside the high walls to sow hope on land where bloodthirsty walking corpses roamed? Facing a terrifying ocean of over a hundred million zombies across the province, those ten thousand-plus exhausted soldiers, even with wills of steel, felt utterly powerless.

Base Office

Inside the office, the air seemed to have solidified into dust, carrying a stale heaviness. Li Tianhua was sunk deep into a worn leather sofa, unconsciously pressing his throbbing temples, his voice as raspy as sandpaper rubbing together. "Old Wang... what stage has the national situation reached now? Is there any province, even just one county, that has resumed production? Is it possible for Kyoto... to squeeze out a little grain to help us?" He looked up, his eyes filled with a fatigue that couldn't be washed away. "When I think of sixty or seventy thousand mouths waiting to eat tomorrow, my head... it feels like it's going to explode."

Opposite the desk, Wang Yao's crisp military uniform had long been stained by gunpowder, dust, and sweat until its original color was unrecognizable; the cuffs were frayed and the collar was yellowed. He couldn't bear to use the base's precious clean water to wash this symbol of rank, instead just using his rough palm to wipe his weathered face. "The situation... is very grim." Wang Yao's voice was low and tired, carrying the characteristic bluntness of a soldier. "Many civilian survivor bases have popped up like weeds, but they are all small-scale, a drop in the bucket. The main force still relies on the fortresses propped up by provincial military regions on the ruins of provincial capitals, struggling to survive just like us."

He paused, his Adam's apple bobbing as if swallowing something bitter. "There is... new news from Kyoto. They used collected zombie crystal cores to forcibly create several Tier 2 Evolvers. I heard it takes a full fifty Tier 1 crystal cores to produce one. The strength of a Tier 2 Evolver... is indeed astonishing; one Tier 2 is said to be able to charge through a zombie horde seven times over, slaughtering thousands of ordinary zombies. It's just..." Wang Yao's brow furrowed even tighter, like an unbreakable knot. "The zombies in Kyoto have been very strange lately, as if summoned by something, all flocking toward the city center. This has actually reduced a lot of pressure on the base's perimeter."

"As for food... ammunition..." Wang Yao's voice held a hint of helplessness as his fingers unconsciously tapped the desk. "It's the same all over the country; every bite eaten is one bite less, every shot fired is one shot gone. No one has any surplus food, let alone enough to support others. The Holy City in Tubo is a bit more stable; it's sparsely populated and the zombies aren't as dense, but their own food reserves... are also stretched thin." He let out a long sigh that sounded exceptionally heavy in the silent office.

"Could it be..." Li Tianhua suddenly tilted his head back, his bloodshot eyes staring fixedly at the mottled ceiling as if trying to find an answer in that gloom. Finally, his voice carried an endless sorrow and despair, like a sigh squeezed from the depths of his soul, "Has humanity... really reached the end?"

Xingyang Base Food Distribution Point

The long line at the food distribution point meandered and twisted, the air thick with the smell of sour sweat, dust, and a restless aura called 'hunger'. The crowd moved numbly, their eyes either hollow or full of hostility. When it was the turn of a sallow-faced man with high cheekbones, he took the bowl of thin porridge, which was clear enough to see his reflection in, and his cloudy eyes instantly widened.

"You call this fucking porridge?!" The man's gaunt arm trembled slightly with anger, the few pathetic grains of rice in the bowl bobbing in the murky liquid. He stared deathly at the young soldier handing out the porridge, his spit nearly spraying onto the other's face. "It's so thin it wouldn't even fill a mouse! Have you soldiers' consciences been eaten by dogs?!"

The young soldier, Wang Li, still had a trace of childishness on his face. He was flushed with anger by this sudden insult, but he suppressed his temper and said hoarsely, "Old fellow, please calm down! There are man-eating monsters everywhere outside, and all the people are gone, so who's left to farm the land? The base's granary... is already hitting the bottom. To even have a hot bite to eat... is already not easy..."

"Bullshit!" Instead of being soothed, the man was like a lit powder keg, his voice suddenly rising and echoing piercingly through the crowd. "No food? Are you soldiers just eating for free? All those granaries! All those supermarkets! Are the guns in your hands just fire-poker sticks? Go rob them! Go seize them! What's the use of keeping you soldiers? Useless trash!" he roared, veins bulging on his neck.

A nearby officer maintaining order, a middle-aged man with a scarred cheek and resolute eyes, immediately strode over and stood in front of Wang Li. He tried to make his voice sound steady and persuasive, even though deep fatigue was hidden in his eyes. "Old fellow, we understand how you feel. But please stay calm! Without factories, every bullet fired is one less. The soldiers can't go fight those monsters with their bare hands, can they? Regarding the food problem, we are thinking of ways every day, racking our brains. It really is... too difficult!" He spread his hands, his palms rough and showing signs of hard labor.

"Hmph!" The man squeezed a look of utter contempt from his nose, his cloudy eyes full of disdain. "Useless! A bunch of useless trash! The taxes I paid before were all fed to dogs!" He suddenly threw his head back and gulped down the bland 'porridge' as if swallowing endless humiliation, then slammed the coarse ceramic bowl onto the ground! "Crash!" A crisp sound rang out as shards flew, like shattered dignity. Without looking back, like a wounded trapped beast, he pushed through the crowd and disappeared into the depths of the gray shantytown.

"Fuck your mother—!" The fury in Wang Li's chest could no longer be contained. His eyes were bloodshot, his teeth gritted until they creaked, and his clenched fists had white knuckles. His body leaned forward in extreme anger, looking as if he were about to charge out.

"Wang Li!" The Company Commander's powerful hand was like a steel clamp, pressing heavily on Wang Li's tensed shoulder. His low voice carried an unquestionable authority. "Endure it! No matter how much grievance you feel, you must swallow it! We are soldiers; we cannot vent our anger on the civilians! It is... indeed true that we failed to protect the peace!" The Company Commander's gaze was as sharp as a knife, looking directly into Wang Li's eyes, which were almost spitting fire.

Wang Li's chest heaved violently, his voice carrying sobs and resentment. "Company Commander! How many brothers have we lost? We spent lives all the way from the city to bring these survivors here! And them? Hiding behind these high walls, they aren't even satisfied having thin porridge to drink! He... why does he get to say that about us?! I... I can't take this humiliation!" A hot tear stubbornly rolled in Wang Li's dust-covered eye.

The Company Commander's palm squeezed Wang Li's shoulder hard, the force conveying a heavy understanding and helplessness. "Wang Li, look at me! We fight not just for them... but also for our own parents, wives, and children in the base! Do you understand?" His voice lowered, carrying a hint of imperceptible raspiness.

Wang Li took a sharp breath, wiped his eyes hard with his dirty sleeve, straightened his back, and said in a hoarse but firm voice, "...Yes! Company Commander! I... I understand."

Xingyang Base Operations Command Room

The atmosphere in the operations room instantly shifted from dull oppression to a frozen silence. A massive radar screen occupied the entire wall, its cold blue light reflecting on the grim faces of several officers. Everyone's gaze was fixed on a shocking area on the screen—the edge representing the direction of Luocheng.

In that area, countless crimson light dots were frantically appearing and converging, like a bloodthirsty swarm of insects awakened by some evil will! They were no longer wandering aimlessly as before, but instead displayed a terrifying, highly consistent directionality, surging toward Xingyang Base at a speed far exceeding that of ordinary zombies! That dense, ever-growing red tide was like a giant net being rapidly stained with blood, or like endless demons pouring out after the gates of hell had opened, sketching a doomsday scene on the screen.

"What... what the fuck is going on?!" a young staff officer cried out, his finger trembling as he pointed at the screen, his voice cracking with fear. "The direction of Luocheng! How... how can there be so many? Are they... are they massing?!"

"It's a zombie horde! The scale... is unprecedented!" another experienced old officer said, his voice dry. He stared at the cluster of red dots spreading like boiling blood, fine cold sweat beads forming on his forehead. "The speed... is too fast! This isn't normal! We must find out immediately what anomaly has occurred in Luocheng!"

"Reconnaissance plane!" The officer in charge of radar monitoring, a colonel with slightly graying temples, suddenly slammed the table and stood up. His voice was resolute, carrying a desperate decisiveness. "Take off immediately! Target: Luocheng! I want you to see clearly with your own eyes what the hell is happening down there!" His command was like a thunderclap, instantly piercing the dead silence of the operations room.

A piercing alarm tore through the peace of the base's dusk. Not long after, among the few warplanes on the tarmac, a light reconnaissance plane's engine let out a tearing roar, spitting out scorching tail flames. Like an arrow from a bow, it pierced the lead-gray sky, charging resolutely toward the Luocheng airspace that symbolized death and the unknown. The massive roar made the ground tremble slightly.

The colonel grabbed the encrypted communicator, his knuckles turning white from the force of his grip. He took a deep breath and spoke into the microphone, his voice as heavy as if pressed by a ten-thousand-ton rock.

"Chief Wang! A massive, high-speed moving zombie horde has appeared in the direction of Luocheng! Their direction of travel is toward our Xingyang Base! The scale... is extremely large! The cause is unknown! I have urgently dispatched a reconnaissance plane to investigate! As soon as there is definite intelligence, I will report to you immediately! Please... prepare for the worst!" Every word carried immense weight.

The other end of the communicator was silent for a moment, then came Chief Wang Yao's familiar voice, which sounded exceptionally heavy now, every syllable seemingly squeezed through his teeth.

"Monitor them closely! At all costs, I want to know why they are moving!" In that voice was the extreme suppression before a coming storm, along with an ominous premonition that quietly coiled around everyone's heart like a cold venomous snake. The crimson on the screen reflected on every face in the operations room, which were all as grim as iron.