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

Zhang is your father's surname?

Chen Xiaoyong's mind immediately thought of someone.

The boss of that company across the river, it seems, had the surname Zhang.

As this thought crossed his mind, his gaze on Zhang Ye shifted, gaining a few extra shades of understanding. Could this young man be the son of that company's boss?

An excitement suddenly rose in Chen Xiaoyong's heart, as if a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity lay before him.

The two forces had been collaborating for over half a month now.

At first, it was only firearms and protective gear.

But later, several more categories of goods were gradually added, among which food and medicine were the most important.

Although the Ecological Park was not short of food in the short term, their warehouse stored mostly staple materials such as rice, flour, grain, and cooking oil, which couldn't be consumed directly.

Most people ate a simple meal of rice or flour cooked into a thick gruel or porridge twice a day.

At most, a bit of salt was sprinkled in it.

If one could find some canned food to toss into the pot and cook a can of meat porridge, tsk tsk, that would be an even more rare delight.

Such treats were usually only afforded to Chen Xiaoyong's higher-ranking subordinates.

Rear echelon personnel could only ensure they had enough to fill their stomachs.

But over time, nearly everyone felt nauseated at the sight of the gruel or porridge; however, because food was so precious, they had to bear this unbearable urge to vomit and swallow it again.

Rice was slightly better.

But still, the taste was far too bland.

It was for this reason that those canned goods scavenged from supermarkets or residential buildings were a rare delicacy for anyone.

But now, these delicacies were being sold in large quantities with the arrival of the company's caravan.

The shiny tin cans bore the company's full name and the components of the can's contents, without any decorative images beyond that.

Pigment also had to be sourced through human effort, resulting in all product packaging being kept very minimalistic.

In plain terms, it was a reluctance to waste materials.

Being edible was all that mattered.

At first, some people were concerned about the two characters written on the can, "rat meat."

But as a few security guards escorting the trucks chuckled and lifted the lids, revealing the somewhat reddened meat inside, no one could resist the temptation of meat any longer.

And its price was two to three times cheaper than those old cans.

One only needed five jin of white flour to trade for one.

What did five jin of white flour represent?

For the lowest-ranking security under Chen Xiaoyong, the standard daily ration was two jin of white flour or one jin of rice.

In other words, even the lowest-paid security guard only needed to spend about two days' worth of food rations to get a can of rat meat weighing five hundred grams.

Although one couldn't eat it every day, changing up the taste every now and then was enough.

There were also ready-made noodles or bread available.

Both had to be exchanged with rice or flour.

One only needed one jin of white flour to trade for three ready-made instant noodles cakes.

Although they came without seasoning, it was obviously more appetizing than the gruel and porridge that people were sick of eating — all it took was a bowl of hot water to make it ready.

And it was clearly more convenient to carry and store.

Chen Xiaoyong was the first customer.

Before this, each time he led people out, he had to arrange for a lot of noodles or rice balls to be made in advance as provisions.

But now, swapping white flour for ready-made noodles cakes made things different.

Doling out a few pieces to each person, they were ready to leave at a moment's notice.

Paired with a bottle of clean water, it perfectly solved the problem of food supply during combat outside.

Both cans and noodle cakes were clearly products of an industrial production line, and the presence of a factory meant a strong military power and abundant human resources.

This further highlighted just how substantial the company's strength really was.

Chen Xiaoyong looked at Zhang Ye in front of him and suddenly felt a surge of impulse.

What if he captured him?

The two were less than a meter apart, and, aside from Tian Gou and Zhang Wei, almost everyone around was his subordinate.

If he acted, he could definitely subdue this young man in a short amount of time.

Then he could use him as a hostage to demand supplies from the company—

The outcome would likely be as desired.

However, this would mean that the partnership between the Ecological Park and the company would have to be forcibly terminated.

Not only that, but the alliance between both sides would also have to be declared broken.

From then on, they would enter into opposing camps.

Chen Xiaoyong's eyes flickered as countless speculations and possibilities flashed through his mind, and he rapidly assessed the pros and cons of different choices.

But just as his gaze on Zhang Ye was becoming increasingly dangerous, the latter suddenly leaned forward and said,

"You wouldn't be thinking of kidnapping me, would you?"

His train of thought instantly broke off.

A trace of embarrassment immediately appeared on Chen Xiaoyong's face.

He hurried to explain, but the other party had already stepped back a few paces, shaking his head and saying, "There's no need to explain, explaining is just covering up, and covering up means there really is something going on."

This remark instantly triggered a reaction from many people behind them, especially from Tian Gou and Zhang Wei, whose hearts nearly jumped into their throats.

You'd think the boss would know better.

If it's just clocking in, just clock in and go back, right?

This isn't our turf, after all. You've clocked in, so why linger around here? What if something happens?

Besides, Chen Xiaoyong is a well-known opportunist.

Plainly speaking, he's bold and meticulous and loves taking risks.

If he discovered Zhang Ye's identity, he would definitely order his capture and then use him to blackmail the company.

If the company loses some supplies, it's not the end of the world, but if the boss gets taken out, that's completely game over.

And Chen Xiaoyong's response just now was precisely indicating he had this intention.

At the critical moment,

"However, I think you might not have fully considered your position."

Zhang Ye's voice continued, but suddenly there was a click from the truck behind them, and then a dozen or so fully armed commando-like guards rushed over.

All of these figures had only their eyes visible.

Whether it was an illusion or not, everyone who saw their eyes felt an inexplicable sense of fear.

You could vaguely see that the eye sockets beneath the metal masks seemed to be reddened.

The body armor covering their entire bodies made them look extremely tall and strong, and at first glance, they appeared like rows of statues, standing proud and tall.

What drew even more attention was the weapons cradled in the guards' arms.

Uniform standard assault rifles.

The air suddenly grew quiet.

The explanation Chen Xiaoyong was about to offer was swallowed back down.

The ambition he had just conceived dissipated in an instant.

All that was left was regret.

Damn it, if only I hadn't been so eager to come out here.

Although he was well aware that the other side certainly had superior equipment, no one had expected it to have progressed to the level of assault rifles!

Now it's no longer a matter of whether the other side should worry about being kidnapped.

It's whether he should worry about being captured on the spot.

All these guns, and you want to run back to the Ecological Park?

Dream on~