If the tension level on the Vanguard First Team’s vehicle was sixty percent, then the tension level on the car of Vanguard Corps Third Team’s captain, Zhang Xin, skyrocketed to eighty percent.

"It’s over, it’s over, something’s going to happen!"

Zhang Xin gripped the steering wheel tightly, frantically driving north.

"What do you mean, Brother Zhang?"

A sturdy man in the back seat asked, confusedly.

"Zhou Le just reported that there’s a zombie horde to the north, and the leader immediately ordered everyone to stand by. Damn it, they’re preparing for a fight!"

Zhang Xin said frustratedly.

In the early days of the disaster, he was fierce and combative, running rampant with a group in the neighborhood, but it was all for survival. Once survival was assured, he longed for peace...

"Brother Zhang, uh... hurry up and respond, we’re the only ones left who haven’t spoken!"

Xiaohu held a walkie-talkie in his hand, knowing why Zhang Xin was nervous. There was a high chance they might clash with the forces from the north, and currently, Celestial Horse Island was at the forefront!

"You hold it, I’ll speak!"

"Okay, okay, three, two, one!"

"Received, leader, Vanguard Third Team Xiaozhang here. We have a situation but will return immediately after handling it..."

"Brother Zhang, request support, hurry..." Xiaohu shouted desperately into the distance.

"We’re on it! Leader, we will return immediately after handling the situation here!"

The loud yelling of Zhang Xin and Xiaohu drowned out the noise of the car’s movement. He had no intention of stopping or turning around, continuing to charge north, unsure of what the leader intended but needing to leave himself a way out!

The brief skit didn’t arouse Liao Youzhi’s suspicion since encountering sudden situations in the apocalypse was normal, but it did make Gong Chengming, who was driving back to headquarters, furrow his brows.

"What’s Zhang Xin busy with..."

Based on previous understanding, Gong Chengming secretly felt there might be some connection between Zhang Xin and Zhang Su, but he found no solid evidence. This delay tactic made him wonder.

When the vehicles gradually returned to the Survivor Alliance, Zhang Su and his team also returned to Celestial Horse Island. They even passed through Satellite Village, took a quick look, and offered some guidance, making their presence known.

"You’ve been out for quite a while. I left some food for you, just need to heat it up!"

Zheng Xinyu, upon hearing the report from the monitoring room staff about the returning cars, quickly ran to the parking lot. Seeing Zhang Su and his team come out safe and sound, she felt relieved.

Each time they left, she worried but didn’t feel it was right to contact Zhang Su via walkie-talkie. As the leader’s woman, no matter how worried she was, she had to keep it inside, remain positive, cheerful, and optimistic.

If Zheng Xinyu or Zhong Xiaoshan were to display a gloomy attitude, it would instantly spread like a virus, making others tense as well, and vice versa.

"Look at them trembling like that." Zhang Su laughed, pointing at the trembling Lu Yubo and his group, smiling: "They were already slow enough, and then ran into a zombie horde, so it took a bit more time."

"Another zombie horde wandering towards the camp? Mr. Zhang, with our current speed of clearing them, things don’t look good."

Yuwen and Yu Qing came to the parking lot together to greet the returning team. After the people from United Village, West Camp, and Kuanzhuang moved out, the atmosphere of Celestial Horse Island returned to what it was before. Whenever someone returned from a trip, those who had no work would come out to meet them, like one big family.

"Let’s not mention those other hordes for now; the one we encountered today has been dealt with thoroughly!"

Zhao Dezhu happily reported to his father-in-law: "The big brother led the zombie horde far, far away, all the way to the North Second Ring Road, haha, those idiot zombies got confused and couldn’t find their way back!"

"That far..." Yuwen paused for a moment, then realized: "No wonder it took you so long, it wasn’t an easy task, was it?"

Guiding a zombie horde isn’t hard in itself, but ensuring not too many zombies fall behind, while being mindful of sudden incidents, requires experienced skills. Especially to prevent encirclement by zombie hordes suddenly appearing from other places. From Niuquanzi Town to the North Second Ring Road, even in a straight line, it’s over fifteen kilometers, a pretty long distance!

"All went smoothly. Uh, you guys move the stuff into storage; we’re going to eat first, and then do regular training in the afternoon."

Zhang Su took off his gloves and clapped his hands. He finished speaking and headed towards the dining hall, spotting Ju Mumio standing in the middle of the road from afar, clearly waiting for him.

"What’s that Japanese woman looking for me for?"

Zhang Su whispered to Zheng Xinyu beside him.

Zheng Xinyu also shook her head in confusion, indicating she didn’t know.

"You silly girl, why are you standing in the middle of the road?"

Zhang Su laughed and approached her, nearly making Ju Mumio lose her composure with his words.

"I don’t like it, I don’t want this nickname..."

Ju Mumio first expressed her dissatisfaction, then looked at the few people following behind Zhang Su, and said, "I hope I can also participate in the mission to search outside."

She clearly remembered the rules; going out to search for supplies could earn a ten percent commission. Although life on Celestial Horse Island was indeed as Zhang Su said, abundant in food and drink, she always had a sense of crisis and hoped to stockpile some personal supplies for emergencies.

"Ha, quite ambitious..."

Zhang Su didn’t expect her to approach him for such a small matter, and laughed, "No problem, since you have the idea, I’ll take you along tomorrow. But let’s make it clear, you have to follow commands and abide by the rules, or I won’t show mercy!"

Ju Mumio secretly got angry. If someone had said "won’t show mercy" to her half a month ago, she would only sneer behind their back, but not now, because she couldn’t fight Zhang Su anymore...

"Don’t worry, I’ll do whatever they do."

"Alright, get going, I still have training to do this afternoon. I’ll go grab a bite first!"

Zhang Su waved his hand, dismissing Ju Mumio.

The group walked into Little Lucky, chatting and laughing, and before they even pushed open the restaurant door, Zhang Su heard urgent footsteps on the stairs. He turned to look at the stairway entrance and soon saw Zhong Xiaoshan hurrying down with a walkie-talkie in her hand.

Zhang Su recognized the walkie-talkie in Zhong Xiaoshan’s hand, raised an eyebrow, and said to the group, "You guys go eat first!"

Then he took a step forward and took the walkie-talkie from Zhong Xiaoshan and asked, "What’s the situation?"

"It just rang, someone has an urgent issue to discuss with you!"

"Urgent issue?"

Zhang Su frowned, holding the walkie-talkie while heading upstairs, unbuttoning his shirt. Since he wasn’t going to eat, he planned to change his clothes first, and once inside the room, he pressed the talk button and said, "Old Zhang?"

"Ah, Brother Zhang, finally got you, is it convenient for you to talk now?"

It only took a couple of seconds before Zhang Xin responded.

Zhang Su exchanged glances with Zheng Xinyu and Zhong Xiaoshan, and the two women very cooperatively left the room, not entirely to avoid suspicion but also to keep an eye on the situation outside, maintaining a good communication environment.

"It’s fine, I’m alone in the room, go ahead!"

Zhang Su took off his outdoor clothes, sat on the chair with his leg up, and lit a cigarette while pondering what urgent matter the other party might have.

"Brother, let me ask you something, don’t mind it, today someone led thousands of zombies to the intersection of Province Route 52 and North Second Ring Road, do you know anything about this?"

Even over the telecom signal, Zhang Xin’s cautious and tense voice painted a picture of his expression.

Zhang Su’s heart skipped, not giving a direct answer, he probed, "Zombie swarms aren’t unusual, are they? There are several swarms nearby, each with almost ten thousand zombies, thousands isn’t much, what’s up?"

"Ugh, Brother Zhang, the issue isn’t about the numbers, the problem is that this keeps happening again and again. Liao Youzhi has flipped out, he just ordered all personnel to return to headquarters, probably to deal with this matter, likely planning to extend his hand up north!"

Extend his hand, Zhang Su understood the implication of these words, but what did "again and again" mean, he was a bit unsure.

"Old Zhang, you being able to use this walkie-talkie to talk to me shows you’ve come to the north. Your leader is summoning everyone back, and you’ve come to give me a heads up, that’s loyal of you. I’ll be honest, today indeed I led a zombie swarm to North Second Ring, but it was only today, all that ’again and again’ has nothing to do with me!"

Zhang Su wasn’t afraid of Liao Youzhi, but he didn’t want to take the blame for this one. As soon as this issue was raised, he thought of the zombie swarm discovering other survivors. It seemed there was a connection between the two.

This time, Zhang Xin paused slightly; his CPU was likely running at full speed, and about half a minute later, he said, "Damn, who else could be stirring things up, Brother Zhang? In the past month or so, such things have happened two or three times, and Liao Youzhi can’t stand it anymore!"

"His inability to bear it has nothing to do with me; you mean he’s decided that I did all this and is planning to bring people over to cause trouble for me?"

Zhang Su was irritated, not entirely because of Liao Youzhi but the absurdity of taking the fall. It was like a jewelry store had a broken display case leg; he, like a gust of wind, just walked by, causing the display to topple, jewels shattered all over the floor, and the store wanted him to pay...

"Sigh, my information is limited, but that’s how things stand. When it comes to confrontations, I’d surely support you, just don’t shoot at me, alright!"

Zhang Xin decided not to dwell on it any longer; he directly stated the real purpose of this visit, to preemptively plead for leniency.

Zhang Su couldn’t help but smile at the corner of his mouth upon hearing Zhang Xin’s words, and then said, "Old Zhang, does this mean you’re planning to abandon the Survivor Alliance and join my Celestial Horse Island?"

"We’ve known each other, so I won’t lie to you. If there’s peace, I’ll stay with the Survivor Alliance, occasionally passing information to you; it’s comfortable. If there’s conflict, I’ll switch sides immediately!"

Zhang Xin spoke earnestly, his thoughts having been deliberated over for some time.

"Alright, alright, so you’re now my spy in the alliance, huh? Haha, should I pay you a salary then?"

Zhang Su didn’t fully believe Zhang Xin’s words nor entirely disbelieve. Considering it from his perspective, he understood Zhang Xin’s motives for doing this; as long as there’s a reasonable motivation, the actions are reasonable too.