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

His heart felt as if it would leap out of his chest.

Only when that familiar signpost came into view did Peng Yue finally calm down from the panic, but he still couldn't help but glance in the rearview mirror.

Chen Xiaoyong didn't seem to have caught up, only the black smoke rising from the distant park was visible.

They were probably burning corpses.

Fresh corpses not only attract bloodthirsty zombies and Mutant Beasts but may also lead to the outbreak of contagion; therefore, most settlements have people who specialize in handling bodies.

Meanwhile, his face was full of gloom, looking quite terrifying.

The driver was an old-timer of the convoy.

His name was Geng.

Seeing Peng Yue's face filled with humiliation and an unwilling expression, he immediately spoke up to dissuade him, "Captain, you really can't go back!"

"If we go back now, we'd be truly finished."

"Peng Er... would have died in vain."

He had been better off not mentioning Peng Er.

As soon as Peng Er came up, Peng Yue, who was already on the verge of erupting, suddenly grabbed Geng by the throat and bellowed:

"What did you say!"

"Are you trying to say I got Peng Er killed!"

The two were entangled, but it was the moving truck that first responded, crashing into the ditch by the road.

Then a loud bang followed, and the engine cut off completely.

Peng Si's anxious voice came through the walkie-talkie.

"Big brother?"

"What happened over there?"

As his voice sounded, the two trucks leading the way had already slowly pulled over to the side of the road, and soon people jumped down from them and headed this way.

With no pursuers behind them, these people naturally grew bolder; otherwise, they would not dare to stop the truck so carelessly.

But as soon as Peng Si opened the door, he saw his eldest brother lying across the dashboard, weeping bitterly.

"Peng Er, I've wronged you..."

"It's all my fault!"

The sorrowful cries were mournful, bringing tears to the eyes of the people outside, and for a moment, no one dared approach to stop him.

The Peng family brothers may not be related by blood, but they had been close since they were children.

After growing up, they all made a living in the same convoy.

Peng Er, who had always been by their side, had suddenly died, and instead of avenging him, they had fled the Ecological Park with their tails between their legs.

It wasn't just Peng Yue who felt humiliated; even the others felt a choking sense of disgrace.

It was as if there was a lump in their chest that they just couldn't expel.

Suddenly, someone mentioned that the weapons and armor in those people's hands seemed a bit familiar, and Peng Yue, who had been lying on the dashboard, abruptly looked up, his eyes bloodshot, and asked:

"What did you say?"

The person was scared stiff.

He instinctively thought he might have misspoken.

But the piercing gazes from around him bore such intense pressure that he eventually stuttered out the same words again.

"I, I mean..."

"The guns those people were using, and the body armor they wore... seemed, seemed familiar."

Peng Si, already a bit nervous, frowned at this.

Wasn't that obvious? Who didn't have homemade guns from ten years ago nowadays

Homemade guns are simple in design, and their appearance—covered in dust—looked all the same.

Regarding the armor—

He thought hard and realized it was indeed a bit strange because many of the people who had rushed up from behind were wearing metal armor.

That wasn't some survivor's makeshift leather protection thrown over the chest; it was real, quality gear.

It was actual armor.

Their chest, shoulders, forearms, and even the shins of a few, shimmered with a bright light, indicating they were wearing armor specifically designed to protect the legs.

Peng Yue had seen protective gear made of tattered hide and cloth before, but this was his first time seeing metal ones.

Where on earth did Chen Xiaoyong get them?

As he was pondering this, Peng Liu's face darkened as he said, "I remember now, those are the revolvers and metal armor that only the company has, I saw them before in the safety zone."

Revolvers?

Peng Si's eyes bulged as he finally remembered where he had seen these things before.

Weren't those the guns in the hands of those two guys?

The anger of being betrayed instantly filled his chest, driving him to curse loudly without hesitation, "Damn them all! No wonder those two bastards have been out of sight, were they plotting against us this whole time?"

"They're in league with that Chen surname!"

"Let's go! We'll go back now, skin those two dogs alive and feed them to the mutants!"

The Peng family brothers quickly became inflamed with righteous indignation, clamoring to kill those messengers sent by the company, but before they set off, someone suddenly exclaimed, "Where's Peng San?"

"Who saw where Peng San went?"

The person who spoke had only said this casually since in the chaos, who knew which vehicle Peng San had boarded?

For all they knew, he might be in a carriage right now, cursing that man with the surname Chen!

But when the other Peng family brothers heard this, they immediately exploded into a frenzy, frantically searching for their third brother without finding even a trace of him.

Peng Yue's face became terrifyingly grim.

The entire man fell silent, his expression as dark as the rain clouds on the horizon.

He kept to himself, and with Peng Er, the calm and steady one, missing, the rest of the brothers became even more disordered and chaotic.

They threw out suggestions one after another, some talking about going back to rescue, others about ceding territory and paying off the enemy to exchange for their brother's life.

Some simply broke down in tears.

The conflict of that day had cost them at least a dozen lives, and although the other side had won, their losses were not much less.

With the level of animosity between them now, Peng San's chance of survival was next to impossible, harder than reaching the heavens.

Unless he still had some other value in the eyes of the Chen surname.

At that thought, Peng Yue's mind started to race again, at least giving his cousin a glimmer of hope for survival.

But knowing someone might be alive is one thing, figuring out how to negotiate their release is another.

Send someone directly over?

That'll probably be like sending a lamb to the slaughter with no return.

And most importantly, what do they have now that they could trade for Peng San's life?

Food?

The Ecological Park was already well-stocked.

Now that they've occupied the orchard, they're naturally much wealthier than this convoy, Chen Xiaoyong's men lack nothing in provision.

Lost in thought, he suddenly heard someone say in a grave voice:

"Brother."

"We'll talk after we get back."
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"That Chen surname might come after us at any moment, and stopping here on the main road is not safe."

Not safe? It was an understatement.

There were wounded in their group.

The blood that had soaked through their clothes was like chunks of fat dropped into the ocean in this world, and in less than half an hour, countless zombies and wild dogs would be drawn to the scent of blood.

Given their current state of mind, they would probably lose another three to five people.

Therefore, Peng Yue immediately ordered everyone to get back into the vehicles and return to the convoy's compound to regroup and plan their next move, as well as how to rescue Peng San.

Soon, four battered trucks set off in the direction of home.

All that was left in the billowing dust were cigarette butts scattered all over the ground.

And a pair of eyes.