At dusk, as the sky darkened, Lu Yubo and Tan Huajun returned to Celestial Horse Island, but their vehicle had changed from a van to a Tiguan.

"Damn, fellas, this is blatant embezzlement and bribery!"

Zhao Dezhu looked at the car with speechlessness. It's not exactly luxurious, but it's far superior to a van; just the air conditioning system alone is incomparable.

"Hehe! I didn't run this trip to take a loss. This is for the camp, you know, Big Zhu."

Lu Yubo grinned widely.

"Brother Su, these are the records taken by Wang Longzhong."

Tan Huajun jumped off the car and pulled a slip out of his pocket to hand it to Zhang Su, who was walking over.

"Brother Su, I think Wang Longzhong seems overly enthusiastic. Why would he willingly make United Village our subordinate?"

Lu Yubo rubbed his head, a bit puzzled.

"You can't understand because you're thinking from your own perspective. Wang Longzhong has to consider the whole village!"

Zhang Su took the slip and pocketed it, then continued, "The appearance of the Cyan Dragon Corps has united our rather disjointed 'internal' situation. By the way, what's the situation with those troublemakers?"

"Darn, don't even mention it. A few little karamies dared to be arrogant. One guy insisted on fighting me, and after a few punches, he was begging for mercy, while the other two wanted to compete with Sister Tan in shooting. Half of United Village was watching, it was so embarrassing. All the boasting they did before fell apart, and now they're all obedient!"

Lu Yubo chuckled recounting his afternoon adventure.

"Alright, as long as they're not opposing us at every turn, things are manageable. The Little Lucky Restaurant has left some food for you, take a break."

Zhang Su patted their shoulders and turned to head towards Little Lucky Inn.

"Brother Su, there's still something I need to tell you..."

"Brother Su, Ma Changshou is looking for you!"

Tan Huajun still had some updates to report, but then Zhang Su saw Zheng Xinyu rushing out of Little Lucky with a walkie-talkie, with Good Fortune beside her.

Zheng Xinyu ran up, handed the walkie-talkie to Zhang Su.

"Ma Changshou is looking for me? What does that old guy want now..." 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Zhang Su frowned slightly and said to Tan Huajun, "Let's talk in the restaurant, Old Tan."

They opened the door and walked into the restaurant, where a pleasant warmth greeted them, completely blocking out the cold.

"Ha, is the heating on?"

Lu Yubo was delighted.

"So comfortable..." Tan Huajun extended his arms to feel the temperature, a blissful smile spreading across his face.

"After you left this afternoon, Old Yu and Zhuzi got the heating furnace running. At Wangshan Inn, one guest room had a burst pipe, but the rest of the rooms are fine."

Zhang Su said as he stood aside with the walkie-talkie, "Hello, hello, Old Village Chief, what's on your mind this time?"

Soon, Ma Changshou's voice came through, "Younger Brother Zhang, I was hoping to exchange some medicine with you. Do you have any left?"

"Seriously, Old Ma, is West Camp Village running a hospital or something? Why do you always have sick people?"

Zhang Su asked with a bit of amusement. On their side, there were only some injuries needing medicine, and initially, there was Yu Qing's flu, but no one else had really been ill; even minor ailments didn't call for medicine.

"There are a few elders in the village, getting on in years, with some old ailments, sorry for the trouble." Ma Changshou explained.

Zhang Su didn't dwell on it, saying, "We have some medicine, but it depends on what you need. But Old Village Chief, what are you offering in return this time?"

"Pigs and sheep, grain and vegetables, anything I have that you might need, just name it!"

"Oh?"

Ma Changshou's words made Zhang Su internally question, as he waved to Zhong Xiaoshan nearby, saying, "First, list the medicines you need, so I can figure things out for you."

Ma Changshou rattled off a list, about ten kinds or so, which Zhong Xiaoshan diligently noted down, before ending the call.

"So many medicines, given our previous trade ratios, wouldn't it empty out West Camp Village's granary?"

Guo Dachao frowned and asked.

Zhang Su smirked, "Pigs, sheep, grain, or vegetables, they're too conspicuous. If they really decide to join the Cyan Dragon Corps with those resources, they might get confiscated right away. It's better to exchange for hidden, hard-to-obtain stuff that's more valuable!"

"Oh..." Zhao Dezhu suddenly realized, "They're preparing to make a run for it!"

"Exactly. They have around fifty survivors over there. In this environment, migrating isn't easy, and bringing too much stuff is risky. Hehe, knowing what the old guy's thinking, we can make a nice deal!"

Zhang Su grinned deviously, seemingly already planning how to haggle with Ma Changshou. Suddenly remembering Tan Huajun's unfinished words, he turned and asked, "Old Tan, what were you saying earlier?"

"Oh, right, Sister Tan and I visited the abandoned quarry near United Village. She thinks that place is a hidden danger!"

Lu Yubo interrupted.

Tan Huajun nodded, and said, "That's right, the zombies in that area are too numerous. Unlike the zombies roaming around the village with space to move, the quarry is packed with zombies, and if there's a stampede, they could climb up the slope..."

"Take a look."

Lu Yubo took out his phone and revealed he had carefully taken several pictures.

Zhang Su took the phone to look at the photos. The situation in the quarry pit was identical to what Lu Yubo and Tan Huajun described. He nodded slightly and said, "Your worries are not unfounded, and... hmm?"

With extraordinary vision, he noticed something unusual in the photos. After zooming in several times, he frowned: "Although it's a bit blurry, have a look. Is this zombie digging something on the ground to eat?"

Everyone examined the phone, but the blurry images were hard to decipher, eliciting dry laughter.

"Brother Su, this... totally damaged quality is unclear."

"Zoomed too much, try shrinking a bit. Hmm, nope, smaller is even harder to see..."

Everyone was helpless, except Zhang Su, who could see clearly without losing picture quality. Indeed, a zombie was gnawing on something in the corner, but what it was gnawing couldn't be determined!

He returned the photo to its original size, carefully observing afterward, discovered that it wasn't an isolated case. The peculiar action was clearly eating something, but what could there be to eat in the quarry?

Besides stone walls, it was just other zombies...

"Holy crap, Brother Su, do you think the zombies are eating each other?"

Lu Yubo recalled a chilling idea.

The scene suddenly turned silent, everyone looked at each other.

"Long-term confinement in the quarry could lead to unknown mutations..."

Zhang Su frowned.

"Cannibalism occurs occasionally in the animal kingdom, perhaps... zombies also have this instinct? Anyway, the quarry's potential risk in United Village needs resolution."

Yuwen shivered at the sight of the densely packed zombies in the quarry pit.

Zhang Su nodded, not denying it. Among all known zombie clusters, the quarry was indeed the densest, potentially producing unforeseen troubles!

"Throwing zombies down was easy, but killing them now is difficult. This distance makes cold weapon usage laborious, luring them up is tricky, using guns wastes plenty of ammo, damn it..."

Wang Xin squinted at the photos, a flash of inspiration struck his mind: "Why not torch them? Burn for a day, guaranteed wipeout!"

"Hehe..." Lu Yubo emitted a dry laugh: "You forget how the flaming zombie reacted when ignited, the slope is steep but manageable, and if zombies charge up in flames, it's a disaster!"

No one experienced it as directly as Lu Yubo, who was the main target of the flaming zombie's attack; the pressure was overwhelming.

Everyone imagined the scene of a thousand flaming zombies charging, making chills run down their spines.

"Wait a sec..." Zhang Su frowned, scratching his head: "I was focusing on United Village's resources and population, how did I end up worrying about the quarry zombies? Two months passed, a few more days don't matter, after United Village migrates, we'll use delayed devices to set fire, easy fix! So, let's get going, everyone back to activities, been a busy day."

After saying this, Zhang Su left the restaurant, returning to his room to quietly ponder the post-merge development direction.

Before industrial restoration, population equals productivity, but how to utilize, allocate, and manage it remains a challenge; he needed to thoroughly plan these matters.

He worked until past ten p.m., before finally relenting to climb into bed under repeated urgings, enjoying a good rest.

The next day, Zhong Xiaoshan organized the medications Ma Changshou needed, except a highly advanced imported thrombosis treatment was missing, everything else was available.

Zhang Su glanced at a large bag of medicine, taking only about a third of the quantity, and he didn't plan to visit West Camp Village today. To secure a good price, he must maintain control and let the other party become anxious, a method in itself!

"Brother Su, Brother Su."

Just as Zhang Su was routinely preparing to take people to Xiang Village to fetch supplies, Lü Leiyang ran to the car and called out.

"Hmm, what's up?"

He viewed the bashful sissy without frustration, as long as things worked well, zombies were efficiently slain, and no troubles ensued, feminine aspects didn't matter...

"Well... I've noticed everyone's hair has gotten really long. Could you keep an eye out for scissors while out, and I'll give everyone a haircut."

Lü Leiyang gestured scissors with his hand, wearing a warm smile.

Apart from being a sissy, Lü Leiyang's smile was quite healing, one of the few sunshine-filled smiles in the camp, post-apocalyptic, Zhang Su rarely saw such smiles.

"Has it gotten long?"

Zhang Su exhaled, brushing his hair, which had transformed from resembling Akagi Gangi to Rukawa Kaede, indeed grown...

"Alright, there was a barbershop in Niuquanzi Town before, we never went in, haha. I'll bring some back for you!"

Due to Lü Leiyang's suggestion, Zhang Su adjusted his route, proceeding to sweep Niuquanzi Town, knowing this area couldn't spare the effort to fetch supplies from Xiang Village.