9: First Blood

After organizing themselves, the Gold-seeking Squad set off for the base.

Today's mission was very relaxed! Pan Han pondered how much money he could exchange, while Qin Zhong and the others wondered if they could get more food.

At least both sides seemed very satisfied, which meant their foundation for cooperation had been laid.

Just as they could see the small building of the base, Qin Zhong suddenly received a radio report from his second sister.

“Big Brother, a few wandering zombies are causing trouble.”

“Received! We’ll be there right away, leave it to us!”

Upon hearing about zombies, Pan Han felt quite excited. He had never seen such things before, only in movies.

“Can I try too?”

Cheng Xiao and Old Six looked at Pan Han as if he were an idiot.

Had he never killed a zombie before? Cheng Xiao and Old Six exchanged glances.

“No problem, Qin Laoda.”

“How about this one?” Cheng Xiao pointed to a zombie on the left side of the car, swaying as it walked, with only one arm left.

“That’s the one! What weapon should I use?”

“You can use a machete, or a gun.”

“I want to use a gun! My childhood dream was to become a quick-draw gunman!”

“Lord Pan, you can do it!” Old Six chuckled inwardly upon hearing Pan Han’s dream, but still praised him verbally.

“Use mine!” Cheng Xiao handed her sidearm to Pan Han.

This was Pan Han’s first time holding a gun, and he felt a little excited just thinking about it.

Cheng Xiao’s gun was a semi-automatic pistol, almost identical to those in Pan Han’s universe. Pan Han searched his memory; it should be a P226.

“What’s the caliber? What’s the magazine capacity? What’s the range?” Pan Han asked while feeling the gun.

Cheng Xiao, seeing his somewhat awkward appearance, took the gun back, first engaging the safety, then ejecting the magazine.

“9mm caliber, 15-round capacity, 100-meter range, 775 grams total weight.” Cheng Xiao explained and demonstrated to Pan Han, even miming a shot towards him.

Pan Han watched the series of actions, dumbfounded.

How could this woman handle a gun so well!

“You can shoot from inside the car. Don’t get out, we’ll park the car nearby.”

“Alright!”

Old Six didn’t wait for instructions and drove directly to a spot seven or eight meters from the zombie.

Ordinary zombies have very poor sensory abilities; beyond about 10 meters, they can neither hear nor see.

Pan Han rolled down the car window, picked up the pistol, and aimed at the zombie’s upper body.

He held his breath and pulled the trigger.

Bang!

The recoil made Pan Han uncomfortable; he almost hit his own head.

Cheng Xiao watched from the side, a rare smile appearing on her face. In the apocalypse, seeing someone who couldn’t shoot was rarer than a giant panda.

The bullet grazed the right side of the zombie’s ribs, taking off a bit of flesh.

This zombie was furious. It roared and charged forward, accelerating.

Ordinary zombies also have very poor mobility, walking slowly and leisurely. Seven or eight meters might take several seconds, which gave Pan Han time to adjust.

Pan Han aimed at the zombie’s upper body again, held his breath, and held the gun with both hands.

Bang!

This shot hit the zombie’s neck; its head immediately slumped to the side, and blood vessels and muscle tissue splattered everywhere.

Bang!

This shot finally blew off its head!

“Roar! Oh yeah!” Pan Han danced with joy in the car. He had actually killed a zombie! If he went back to his own world, he’d brag about this to the heavens!

“Lord Pan, don’t point the gun at people!” Cheng Xiao snapped.

“Oh, oh, okay, okay! Here, take it back.” Pan Han immediately handed the gun to Cheng Xiao.

“First time shooting?”

“Ah, yes, where I come from, we only use our brains, not our bodies for fighting,” Pan Han prevaricated.

“A time when there’s no shooting is a good time!” Cheng Xiao blurted out.

Pan Han suddenly realized that everyone in this squad was quite interesting.

Qin Laoda was righteous and reliable, his second sister was charming and smooth. Old Six was rough but meticulous, and Cheng Xiao, besides her looks and figure, seemed to be an idealist. They were indeed a team worth deeper cooperation.

Qin Zhong and the others had also taken care of a few zombies. Everything was safe.

The cars drove into the base one after another, and Old Three was responsible for closing the gate.

The group went to the living room, cleared the table, and prepared to count the spoils.

Qin Zhong opened his backpack and pulled out the items, a glittering pile of gold.

Cheng Xiao was responsible for counting: “20 gold bars, each weighing approximately one kilogram; 2 diamond rings, carat weight unknown; 2 sapphire rings, 3 gold necklaces, total weight approximately 200 grams; one gold stopper, weighing approximately 200 grams.”

“Lord Pan, do you think these things are enough?” Qin Zhong asked. This was his first time doing such a transaction. These treasures were no different from bricks to him; he didn't know if they would work for exchanging food.

“Enough!” Pan Han looked relaxed on the outside, but inside, he was as happy as a blooming flower.

Hearing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

“Yesterday I gave you some food. It was agreed that it was a deposit. I’ll come tomorrow and bring you more.”

“Thank you, Lord Pan. You said at the mall that we’d discuss cooperation when we got back. Shall we talk in detail?”

“Sure, I was just thinking the same thing.”

“Lord Pan, how do you plan to cooperate? What do you want to do?”

“I don’t have any long-term plans yet. But this base needs to be expanded. Its current scale is too small, there aren’t many people, and the security doesn’t feel very complete.”

“Ah? Are you asking us to recruit more people?”

“Yes!”

“To be honest, Lord Pan, we’ve had over 40 people come in here gradually, and only 7 of us are left. Everyone else died. If we want to recruit more, we face many problems.” Qin Zhong felt that recruiting more people would be difficult and wanted to make sure Pan Han understood.

“Oh? Qin Laoda, just speak freely.”

“Firstly, there’s food. This hard currency must be abundant. I wonder, Lord Pan, how large a team can you support?”

“Well, I can’t reveal the specifics yet, but a hundred or so people should be no problem.”

Qin Zhong gasped. A team of a hundred people would consume a lot of food, drink, and supplies, as well as weapons and ammunition, every day. The Iron Gang, which had recently harassed them, only had about that many people. They could already control a sphere of influence spanning several thousand square kilometers.

“What’s the second?” Pan Han continued to ask.

“Secondly, weapons. Of course, if Lord Pan’s food supply is sufficient, then acquiring weapons is also very easy.”

“Thirdly, Evolution Potion. A typical hundred-person team usually has a few Evolutionaries. Otherwise, they can’t establish a foothold. But this Evolution Potion needs to be acquired from the Twelve Palaces.”

“Oh? Evolution Potion? Twelve Palaces? What are those?”

“Evolution Potion, as the name suggests, in the apocalypse, everyone needs to evolve, otherwise they simply can’t survive. For example, the lowest-grade potion can improve human digestive ability. This allows us to eat cockroach biscuits and drink some unclean water.”

Pan Han’s eyes lit up, as if he had discovered a new continent.