Chapter 184: The Invisible Crisis
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The room housed an office desk.
On the desk was an old lamp, and beside it, a sofa.
This place used to be a storage room for the Excellence Fleet, but now it had become the office of the Special Operations Department in Jiangbei District.
After Zhang Ye entered, he briefly looked around and then took a seat directly on the sofa, while Ai Bing and the others took the dozen or so guards to check on the surrounding buildings and the survivors.
"You're saying she disappeared two days ago?"
"Without leaving any message?"
He frowned as he looked at the two men.
Hearing this, Hou Shubin hurriedly nodded and said, "Yes, yes, she just went out to inspect the surroundings as usual, but who would have thought that two days would pass and she still hasn't returned."
But after he finished speaking, he realized that his boss's expression was still very serious.
Obviously, he was not satisfied with this answer.
Just then, Big Beard finally remembered something and hastily added:
"Right, she seemed to have mentioned that if she didn't return within three days, we should immediately notify the company to send more people over."
"Otherwise, the territory of Jiangbei might not be able to be held."
The territory of Jiangbei?
That naturally referred to the Fleet's compound.
Ever since Peng Yue stopped dealing with the day-to-day affairs here, both Gao Feng and Big Beard had subconsciously started to think of this place as the company's new territory in Jiangbei District.
It was just a title away from official control.
Peng Yue, after all, had yet to agree to the transfer.
But it was only a matter of time.
Upon considering this, Zhang Ye shifted his attention to the second statement, "Otherwise, the territory of Jiangbei might not be able to be held?"
Why wouldn't it be able to be held?
Could it be that she discovered some sneaky maneuvers by the Peng Family behind the scenes?
Tsk, it's hard to say.
After all, when he first met Peng Yue, he thought him to be a very astute person, and such people often have one thing in common: few can know what they are truly thinking.
In plain terms, no one can be sure of their real intentions.
The company clearly intended to take advantage of the Fleet's weakness to infiltrate and take control of his territory, could Peng Yue be unaware of it?
He obviously was fully aware.
But would he be content with it?
It was hard to tell.
So the question arose.
If he truly felt discontent but was forced to yield due to the gap in actual strength, what would happen at the end?
And in conjunction with the recent reports from Big Beard that had reached him—
Zhang Ye suddenly felt a jolt of apprehension.
But after all, this was just a guess.
Apart from Peng Yue, there were many other forces that could pose a threat to this place, such as Chen Xiaoyong, who was less than two kilometers away in a straight line.
Then there was Li Wanhao, who was dominating the market to the north and continuously expanding his influence.
And even the Mutant Beasts mentioned by the people here.
Nearly half a year had passed since this unknown virus had erupted.
The world changed almost periodically, meaning no one knew what danger they might encounter outside.
But one thing was certain.
It was always good to strengthen the defensive capabilities of one's territory.
And the two Zombie Guard Squads he had brought with him this time were not just for his own protection.
Thinking this, Zhang Ye decisively handed over the control of one of the squads to Big Beard and Hou Shubin, while the ten armed-to-the-teeth Zombie Guards had already taken control of the entire compound under Ai Bing's orders.
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Meanwhile,
In Jiangbei District, Shanyang Road.
This area was situated to the northwest of the fleet's compound, less than a kilometer up from the market street that extended into a pedestrian street.
That was the southernmost part of the territory now controlled by Li Wanhao of the city's north.
Gunfire rang out from a building on the street.
Bullets whizzed through the air, striking the frail bodies similar to monkeys, and the powerful impact soon swept all the figures surging up the stairs, quickly filling the entire staircase with stacked corpses.
The magazine was emptied of bullets in no time.
Yet, the gathering shadows on the first floor showed no signs of diminishing.
A zombie with odd movements, using the bodies of its peers, bounced and leaped, and after avoiding the corpses rolling down the stairs, it quickly climbed up the railing during the Hunters' reloading pause.
The two people coming up behind didn't have time to raise their shields before the incoming zombie had already toppled one of them to the ground. Discover exclusive tales on My Virtual Library Empire
The person beside was immediately flustered, unable to pull out the crooked knife stuck in his thigh.
"Fuck!"
"Damn it!"
"Why's it jammed now?"
As he struggled with the sheath, a gunshot exploded by his ear, "Bang—"
Half of the zombie's head was blown off in an instant.
"Fall back!"
Before he could react, he felt someone pull him from behind, then saw a woman rush forward and fire several shots down the stairs!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three more corpses were left on the staircase.
At the same time, the companion who had just died began to struggle, but before he could move a few times, the woman turned back and stomped on his neck, breaking it.
The standard-issue boots provided by the company weren't just for show.
The soles were full of nail-like protrusions.
They provided not only slip resistance but also served as a deadly weapon when necessary, against both humans and zombies.
In just that short moment, dozens more zombies had gathered below.
All of these zombies were thin.
They looked very odd.
But their speed was incredibly fast.
Initially, these clearly mutated zombies were called "wild monkeys," with the intention of classifying them with the two other mutant zombie types.
But as time went by, people soon realized they weren't some mutant zombies at all.
They were what the vast majority of zombies looked like now.
Rather than monkeys, they were more like a pack of wild dogs with a sense of team consciousness. At the slightest scent of blood or noise, they would swarm in a short time, devouring their prey to the last bit.
And now, this building was filled with the corpses of such zombies.
The number was at least over a hundred.
If it hadn't been for the cover of the building's layout, this small team of eight Hunters would probably have been scattered and consumed at the first encounter, their bones crushed and eaten along with the flesh.
The horde had surged up the stairs once again, the cries like those of patients constantly eroding everyone's psychological defenses.
Three Hunters who had just reloaded their ammunition quickly aimed and opened fire below.
The bullets danced, and the tide was pushed back down once more.
Yet the faces of those inside the building were still heavy, even showing faint traces of despair, which ironically became the force that kept them fighting.
"Captain, we're about to be overrun!"
"What do we do?"
Gao Feng, hearing the commotion, looked expressionlessly up the stairs. She seemed to remember that the buildings around this one had a similar structure.
The first floor faced the street, turned into shops, while the upper levels housed families.
Weren't there clothes hanging on the rooftop?