Chapter 497: World Full of Surprises
Chapter 497: World Full of Surprises
Translator: Liu_Kaixuan Editor: Valvrave
Early in the next morning, Jiang Liushi's team left Hejiang Town and drove to the Jiangning Safety Zone. An off-road vehicle was following behind the minibus, and they ran smoothly in tandem.
It would take some time to collect all of the materials, and the Jiangning Safety Zone was not far from Hejiang Town. As a result, Jiang Liushi decided to visit Jiangning Safety Zone first. In fact, Hejiang Town was a suburb, while Jiangning Safety Zone was located in the urban area.
In less than an hour, the two cars had been driven into the vicinity of the Jiangning Safety Zone. They immediately felt that the atmosphere was different from Hejiang Town. The tall buildings on both sides were quiet, and the street was cleared by all obstacles; the abandoned cars had been pushed to the side of the road. They couldn't even find a trace of zombies near the vicinity, but they could still see spattered blood patterns on the walls.
After some time, a high cement wall appeared in their field of vision on the road ahead. That cement wall looked like it kept two different worlds separated. The aftermath of doomsday was outside the wall, but on the other side was a safe haven for survivors.
The high gray-white cement wall, which was also stained with blood, extended far away, and Jiang Liushi could even see scaffoldings in the distance. Before the two entrances protected by heavy iron gates were many square fire points, from which Jiang Liushi could feel many muzzles pointing at them. There were also muzzles on top of the wall, which kept moving in sync with them the closer they approached.
"Stop! State your purpose of being here!" Someone shouted behind the iron gate.
"We want to know how to enter the Safety Zone, what's the procedure?" Jiang Liushi replied from the minibus. At the same time, he observed the thick concrete wall through the windshield. There were many shells scattered around the wall, and the ground was covered with a layer of solidified plasma.
"Wait for a moment!"
After a while, the other gate was opened for the minibus and the off-road vehicle to proceed. After that, several soldiers appeared to inspect the two vehicles and take a headcount of the survivors inside. When that process was completed, Jiang Liushi's team was allowed to enter, and they were led to a parking lot with several parked military vehicles. Meanwhile, many soldiers were busy repairing cars and carrying materials.
Behind the parking plot was a higher concrete wall, and form the tall buildings it was protecting, they could tell it was the real safety area.
"The security here is quite tight," Jiang Liushi exclaimed.
Where they parked were also some other vehicles. After glancing at the people sitting or standing next to the cars, Jiang Liushi guessed that they should be people who wanted to join the safety area. With the exception of teams that had established a foothold in Hejiang Town, for any other team, joining the military was also a good chance for survival.
A female officer that was talking to another team made a gesture at Shi Ying Squad, indicating that they should stop to wait.
Suddenly, Jiang Liushi frowned. He didn't expect to meet someone whom they had met before.
When Jiang Liushi drove his minibus into the parking lot, a frown also appeared on a man's scarred face.
'Why are they here?' The frowning man was Yang Ying, the Celestial Pole Squad's leader and the first person Jiang Liushi had met after coming to Jiangning.
Initially, Yang Ying wanted to rob them after their fight with the level-2 mutant zombie but never had expected that Jiang Liushi's team would be so powerful. Naturally, they had run away, abandoning their novel thoughts, back to Hejiang Town. But, they could not shake off the ominous feeling, so they decided to join the Safety Zone.
Unfortunately, their decision seemed to have backfired since Jiang Liushi had also appeared. As a matter of fact, it was a painful decision for Yang Ying to join the military. Once he joined, his good days would come to an end. But when replaying the scene of the level-2 mutant zombie's death, fear took over his heart, and thus, it led him to make the difficult decision. However, who could have thought that they'd meet Jiang Liushi here of all places!?
The world was indeed full of surprises!
The female officer, noticing Yang Ying's pale face and indignant expression, frowned and asked, "What's wrong?"
Yang Ying had been there for a whole day, and he would answer her every question in great detail. Thus, she found it strange when he abruptly stopped talking. She could sense that he was scared of something. 'Could it be that he is afraid of the newcomers?'
"Officer Wan, I know that team," Yang Qiu paused for a moment and continued, "I met them the day before yesterday. They were blocking a team of trapped survivors from exiting a building. The team's captain may seem like a gentleman, but he is actually a ladykiller. The several beauties in his minibus are living proof. He collects them…"
Yang Ying was quite good at fooling women. He had stayed here for a day, and he was a psychic paranormal, so he knew that Officer Wan was a person who carried a deep-rooted hatred for evil. As such, he pinned all of his bad acts on Jiang Liushi and gave a vivid explanation. As for himself, he made it look like he was a chivalrous and righteous man. He even said that Jiang Liushi had tried hunting down his team.
Yang Ying didn't need Wan Lan to believe everything he said but just believing a part of his words was enough to lead her by the nose to save him. Sure enough, Wan Lan's expression turned ugly.
"You'd better just stay here. Don't do anything," Wan Lan said coldly.
She didn't really believe everything Yang Ying said, but she was still in charge of this place and couldn't allow anyone to cause trouble.
Right after, she stood in front of Jiang Liushi's minibus and asked, "Who's the Captain?
Jiang Ling Liushi rolled down the window and replied, "I am."
"It's better not to cause any trouble here," Officer Wan warned.
As soon as Jiang Liushi's heard her warning, he felt curious and replied, "I don't know what you heard, but you should hear both versions of the story. Don't let others' words mislead you."
Actually, he could easily guess what Yang Ying had told her. In his mind, Yang Ying was a mere fly, and that's why he spared his life. However, he didn't expect that even a fly could be so troublesome.
"That's an ultimatum. I don't need to discuss with you nor listen to your excuses," Wan Lan retorted. She simply didn't want to know about the survivors' affairs. After entering the Safety Zone, they all had to obey her orders.
"I have yet to join the Safety Zone, so why should I obey your orders?" Jiang Liushi asked.
"You have entered Safety Zone, which is under my jurisdiction. That's my final warning; don't cause trouble!" Wan Lan said coldly.
Jiang Liushi's attitude towards her made her unhappy. Other survivors would lower their heads before her. From Yang Ying's fearful reaction, as well as Jiang Liushi's bold attitude, Wan Lan started to believe that Yang Ying was right.
"Why are you warning my brother!?" Jiang Zhuying rolled down her window and asked anxiously.
Wan Lan didn't answer and just stared at Jiang Zhuying. At the same time, she also saw several beautiful women through the opened window. The girls' temperaments were even better than hers.
'Why would so many beautiful girls be gathered in such a minibus?' The moment Wan Lan wondered about that, myriad of bad thoughts bombarded her mind. She even felt that what Yang Ying said was not total nonsense.
"You can get off the bus," Wan Lan said. Jiang Liushi had left her a bad first impression in her heart.
…
In the past two days, a total of four teams had come. In addition to Wan Lan, two other officers were responsible for assessing them.
"What's wrong? Why do you seem dejected?" An officer asked when he noticed Wan Lan's annoyed expression.
"It's because of those survivors. I don't understand why we need to let them enter," Wan Lan replied.
"It's okay. Tell me who annoyed you, and I will help you to review carefully," the officer patted his chest and promised.
"We have to follow the regulations to the letter. You can't make a call based just on your judgment," another officer intervened after listening to their conversation. The former officer stopped speaking the moment he heard that.
The latter officer was about 30 years old, wearing a thin camouflage uniform, but his stout muscles were still visible under his clothes. His bronze skin seemed as if it was made of steel with many scars on it. He was the officer-in-charge of the assessment.
"Commander Ji, I'll keep in mind your words. After all, we, humans, need to rebuild our civilization sooner or later, and these survivors will be an important part in it," the former officer said at once.
Wan Lan smiled and said to Ji Xiangming, "Actually, I don't target him on purpose. I just felt his attitude is queer. If he doesn't abide by the rules, he will hurt us after joining the military."
"In the survivors' minds, stronger individuals should be treated like kings. As long as we can make them understand that this is not the case, they will naturally obey our orders," Ji Xiangming replied.
"Commander Ji, you are the strongest one in the army. Those survivors shouldn't even be mentioned in the same sentence with you," Wan Lan said with a smile.
"Don't underestimate them. They have survived in this world for a long time now and have also accumulated a lot of life-or-death battle experience. We will only suffer losses if we were to underestimate them," Ji Xiangming said coldly.
"How can that be possible? Commander Ji, we all believe in you," Wan Lan said without any hesitation.
Wan Lan could not help but lower her head that had become slightly red after glancing Ji Xiangming's bulging chest muscles.
"Nothing is impossible! Also, Wan Lan, don't let bring personal emotions to work. We are only responsible for assessing these people." Ji Xiangming looked at Wan Lan and frowned. He vaguely guessed what had happened as it was not the first time. But this survivor team had not fallen for Wan Lan's intimidation, unlike what she believed.
"I… I know." Wan Lan's face turned white. She didn't dare to disobey Ji Xiangming.
And then Wan Lan turned back to see that minibus. She was even scolded by Ji Xiangming just because of the team owning the minibus!
'How could he be compared with Ji Xiangming? Ji Xiangming is in the top ten contenders of the military's combat competition,' Wan Lan thought.
At first, she was just unhappy with Jiang Liushi, but now, she couldn't wait to reprimand him!