Although the granary was only sixteen kilometers from the Haigang Survivor Base, before the apocalypse it would have been just a twenty-minute drive.
But now, with the apocalypse, blocked roads, and zombies harassing them along the way, it took the convoy more than four hours to reach the granary, finally arriving after one in the afternoon.
Of course, this was also related to the strength of Haigang’s fighters.
To avoid attracting too many zombies, no one dared to fire their guns.
Instead, they fought using cold weapons.
Without firearms, the five hundred so-called elite fighters could only handle a tier-two zombie solo at best. Whenever a tier-three zombie appeared, Zhou Haiyue and Gao Zhixin had to step in to kill it.
If it had been the combat team from South China University—
They’re all fighters who could take on ten at once; they would have reached the granary ages ago, not taken four hours.
There weren’t many zombies inside the granary, just a little over a hundred.
To save time, Ian Song ordered Zeke Guan, Gao Zhixin, and Zhou Haiyue to go in and clear out the zombies.
All three were martial artists at the Hua-Jin level or above, so handling a hundred or so zombies wasn’t difficult. In less than twenty minutes, they had cleared out every zombie in the granary.
After that, Ian Song led the top fighters to guard the outside, while the five hundred combatants went into the granary to haul the grain.
The sound of the truck engines had already attracted nearby zombies. Soon, more than two hundred zombies charged toward the granary gate.
"Sister Liu, you and Jewel guard the gate. The rest of you, come fight with me!"
Hearing Ian’s order, Zeke Guan, Zhou Haiyue, and Gao Zhixin all looked at Lillian Liu in surprise and doubt. She was obviously just a housewife—was she secretly a hidden expert?
Martial artists can usually sense each other's cultivation, but none of them could detect any power from Lillian Liu.
“Don’t worry, Ian. Leave it to me. I won’t let a single zombie get past.” Lillian said confidently. Ever since Ian had accepted Jewel as his disciple, she felt much closer to him.
For a moment, Zeke and the others were even more puzzled.
"Kill the zombies!"
With a blur, Ian dashed into the zombie horde, pulling out a heavy machete from who-knows-where.
Splat, splat, splat, splat!
Blades flashed, and several zombie heads went flying through the air.
Splat, splat, splat!
Everywhere Ian passed, headless zombies fell in droves.
"So fierce!"
Seeing this, Zeke Guan and the others were stunned—watching Ian cut down zombies was like watching someone chop vegetables, effortless and casual.
Shocked as they were, the three didn’t slow down, and joined the fight against the zombies.
In less than three minutes, the four of them had wiped out all two hundred zombies. Ian alone killed 150, more than twice the total of the other three combined.
Still, this was the city center, with lots of people.
So, after only a few minutes, another horde of zombies started gathering.
No need to say much—just keep killing!
While Ian and the others fought zombies outside, the five hundred fighters inside the granary worked fast, loading grain onto the trucks.
With so many people helping, it took less than half an hour to fill all eight big trucks with grain.
Each truck could hold fifty tons of grain. One ton is two thousand jin, so fifty tons is a hundred thousand jin. Eight trucks in one trip meant eight hundred thousand jin of grain brought back to the base.
Two hours later, the eight grain-laden trucks finally returned to the base, drawing crowds of survivors to watch.
Afterward, all the survivors were assembled, and Zeke Guan announced that Ian Song would be the new leader of the base.
As the new leader, Ian announced that starting today, the food ration would be three taels for women and half a jin for men.
The survivors, who had been anxious about the leadership change, couldn’t help but cheer.
After settling the Haigang base’s affairs, Ian returned to South China University that evening.
Then Ian gathered Leo Liao, Kevin Zhou, Jason Long, Helen Guo, and the rest of the seven-person inner circle, and announced his decision to relocate the base to Haigang.
The South China University base was pretty good, but it was located in the suburbs. Ian wanted to build a survivor base with a million people, so taking control of Huahai City was a must. Establishing the main base in the city center was the smartest choice.
No one objected to Ian’s order; instead, they focused on discussing how to move and which route to take.
Ian didn’t join the discussion. He just left and went back to his room to rest.
"Big brother, you’ve been gone for more than a day. I was so worried about you."
Not long after Ian got back to his room, Coco Guan arrived.
"Don’t worry, I’m tough—nothing’s going to happen to me." Ian pulled Coco onto his lap, gently tapped her nose, and said with a smile.
"You’re terrible! You always bully me as soon as you get back." Coco pouted, but as she shifted in his lap, her movements stoked the fire in Ian’s heart. He whispered, "Don’t move like that."
Coco gave Ian a smug look, then leaned close to his ear and whispered, "Big brother, my period’s over."
"Really?"
Ian’s eyes lit up. As he spoke, his hand slipped under Coco’s clothes, grabbing and kneading.
"You’re so bad, big brother."
Coco let out a playful hum.
"Heh, what’s even naughtier is still below."
Ian gave her a wicked grin, then kissed her lips, his hands roaming all over her body.
Soon, the room was filled with the sounds of fierce battle—echoing for a long time.
After a day of preparations—
On the third day, the South China University base was ready and set out together for Haigang.
The night before departure, Ian visited the grove and gave his enslaved level-five J-Type Zombie an order: lead the zombie army to clear the way ahead.
After communicating, Ian learned that a level-five J-Type Zombie could control a horde of fifty thousand zombies.
Previously, it had been stuck in the grove with no chance to build up its forces. Now, the opportunity had come—so that night, the J-Type Zombie became the vanguard, heading to Haigang ahead of the base.
The journey from South China University to Haigang was over fifty kilometers, and the Combat Corps members were baffled—almost in the city, and they hadn’t run into a single zombie.
Except for Ian, everyone else was puzzled and couldn’t figure out why.
Another thing worth mentioning: before departure, Ian gave every member of the base a standard Evolution Crystal.
This boosted their strength and stamina significantly.
After entering the city, zombies finally appeared—but they were just scattered strays, not even enough to give the Combat Corps a real fight.
Even as time passed, there still weren’t many zombies.
So, by a little after six in the evening, everyone had arrived at Haigang.
When the leaders at Haigang heard the news, they stood at the gate to welcome them. Kevin Zhou and the others were deeply impressed by Ian—he’d subdued a ten-thousand-person base all by himself.