Chapter 275: Chapter 275: Returning to Inquire

Upon discovering such a massive zombie horde approaching, Lin Xinghai and the others didn’t dare to delay. They immediately rushed back and reported the news at the first opportunity.

However, to everyone’s surprise, although the Military Department had received the news, they weren’t ordered to retreat or given any other tasks. They were simply told to continue monitoring the zombie horde.

"What in the world does this order mean?" Zhuo Yongyuan said, his brows furrowed in confusion.

The zombie horde was about to reach 700,000. This was completely beyond what the Military Department and the Mercenary Guild could handle. Logically, they should have been organizing an immediate retreat.

Lin Xinghai also frowned, but he remained silent, simply standing on the skyscraper’s roof and gazing quietly into the distance.

Time continued to pass, and an hour went by quickly. By 1:00 PM, the number of zombies gathered to the west of the Industrial Park had exceeded one million.

As the horde grew, the nearby zombies seemed to become more and more agitated. At this rate, even without the command of a Mutated Zombie, they would probably form a horde on their own before long.

At this point, Lin Xinghai and the others didn’t even dare to go forward to investigate. If they got caught in the middle of it, even they would have a hard time making it out alive.

Of course, the Military Department had also relaxed its surveillance requirements for them. They could simply observe from a distance with optical equipment. All they had to do was report the moment the zombie horde broke out.

"I’m going back to ask about the situation! You guys be careful. If anything seems wrong, retreat immediately," Lin Xinghai said to Zhuo Yongyuan and the others with a soft sigh.

He couldn’t shake the feeling of unease without getting some clarity.

"Okay!" Zhuo Yongyuan nodded. "Don’t worry about us here. We’re observing from a distance now, which is even safer than when we were scouting with zombie radar. Also, if you find out anything that isn’t confidential, please let us know."

"Alright!" Lin Xinghai agreed, then piloted his Rapid Mecha away.

On his way back, he passed straight through the entire Industrial Park and discovered that the number of zombies here had multiplied several times since they arrived last night.

At this rate, even if they managed to clear a path before the horde erupted, collecting Elemental Crystals in the Industrial Park would be incredibly difficult.

He quickly passed through the Industrial Park and continued on his way. Ten minutes later, he finally encountered the first team.

It was a mixed team of military personnel and members of a Mercenary Corps.

Clearly, the military had taken over command, and now all the major mercenary battalions were just following orders.

What surprised Lin Xinghai was that this team wasn’t clearing a path toward the Industrial Park. Instead, they were just clearing zombies from the sides of the road while also removing obstacles from the road itself.

The debris from collapsed buildings and the cars on the road were all piled to one side, and any potholes were filled in as much as possible.

’What are they doing?’ Lin Xinghai wondered, surprised.

However, after a quick look, he didn’t linger and continued on his way back.

By now, there were very few zombies in the area he was traveling through. The Mercenary Corps he encountered further back were doing much the same work, but they had an additional task: building sentry posts and various fortifications.

Lin Xinghai used his Perception Power to observe them. Although the sentry posts and fortifications were quite crude, they were built very densely. The sentry posts, for example, were spaced barely a hundred meters apart.

And most importantly, beneath these sentry posts, machinery had been used to dig an underground tunnel, a full two meters wide, allowing for reinforcements or retreats between the various posts.

’Don’t tell me they’re actually planning to fight the zombie horde to the death!’ Lin Xinghai thought as he observed the dense network of sentry posts behind him. He was puzzled, but he also felt a surge of excitement. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

What the Military Department had created wasn’t just a few defensive lines; it was a massive, sprawling defensive network.

At this moment, Lin Xinghai felt he had to look at the Military Department in a new light. He had been skeptical and incredulous when he previously heard from Zhuo Yongyuan that the general staff had assessed their combat strength as capable of withstanding a 500,000-strong zombie horde.

Now, seeing this scene before him, all his doubts vanished.

If they were to fight a positional war like this, their 35,000 troops, holding their ground with such a defensive network, could indeed defeat an army of 500,000 zombies.

But the problem was, the zombie army had now exceeded one million, which was far beyond their estimates.

More importantly, their purpose in coming to Guanghan City wasn’t to exterminate zombies.

The zombies were endless. Plundering resources to enhance the overall strength of the Shelter was what truly mattered.

Therefore, even if the Military Department truly had a way to defeat this million-strong zombie horde, if all their people were wiped out, or even if they lost half of them, it was a price the Star Shield Shelter could not afford to pay.

After all, in the apocalypse, population was the most important resource, to say nothing of the fact that everyone here was an experienced mercenary or soldier.

With doubt and a hint of anticipation in his heart, Lin Xinghai continued on his way.

At last, he found someone he could question: Jin Canlan.

Lin Xinghai hadn’t expected that the supreme leader of the Mercenary Guild, who was supposed to be holding down the fort at headquarters, would have also rushed to the front lines.

And by sheer coincidence, he was with the First Battalion.

"Don’t ask. I don’t know anything," Jin Canlan said preemptively, before Lin Xinghai could even speak after getting out of his mecha.

Lin Xinghai was taken aback. "How do you know what I was going to ask?"

"What else could you be here to ask about? It’s not like I’m completely clueless about the situation at the front. Something big must have happened for the military to halt the advance and have us build these sentry posts."

"But the thing is, other than ordering our Mercenary Guild to coordinate in building fortifications, the military really hasn’t revealed anything else. Oh, right, there was one other thing: an order to be ready to retreat at a moment’s notice."

"You just came from there. Hurry up and tell me what the hell is going on!" By the end, Jin Canlan was the one asking the questions.

Lin Xinghai was rather speechless. He looked at the man’s fat face and saw that he didn’t seem to be joking at all, which meant he really was in the dark.

Lin Xinghai thought for a moment. "Since the Military Department hasn’t announced anything, the information is still confidential for now. In any case, just be prepared to retreat at any time."

He understood that if he mentioned the million-strong zombie horde, it would likely cause a panic. If the Military Department had a plan, he could ruin it with a single sentence.

Hearing this, Jin Canlan grew even more uneasy. He couldn’t help but urge, "Your status isn’t ordinary. You have a good relationship with that old man Wei Tianxing, and Lin Zhengyang, the top commander of the military, also thinks very highly of you. Why don’t you go ask around? You might be able to find something out."

"I’m not asking for much else. I built this Mercenary Guild with my own two hands. Even if we’re being sent on a suicide mission, I don’t want to go into it blindly."

"Fine! Tell me the location," Lin Xinghai asked directly, not wasting any time.

"Three kilometers to the rear. The general staff’s temporary camp is over there."