Industrial Cthulhu doesn't believe in the end times.

Chapter 126 "Going Up the Mountain!"

The operation against Haizhou is still in preparation. Two hundred thousand troops sounds like a lot, but they are going to face a complete horde of zombies, numbering close to four million. Moreover, they are not trapped in the city's houses; the zombie king must have already found a way to release them.

In other words, the combat power of this zombie horde is basically equivalent to that of the large hordes Su Xun encountered in his previous life, and it is not weakened by the measures taken in advance.

Even if such a large number are not entirely under the control of the Zombie King, they will still have a certain degree of indirect influence. To completely eradicate them, a considerable amount of manpower and resources will be required, and the ensuing war will be protracted.

In fact, the two sides had already clashed. The zombie king had attempted to launch several small-scale zombie hordes in an effort to break through the blockade of the surrounding cities, but they were all suppressed by powerful firepower.

Of course, it wasn't without its gains. Some zombies from the surrounding areas that hadn't yet been cleared were taken away, constantly increasing the strength of this large zombie horde, while also replenishing the number of zombies lost in the artillery fire.

Overall, both sides are still accumulating strength, and Su Xun is not in a hurry to head south, as there are still many things he needs to resolve.

Take, for example, this zombie king who came from Yanshan.

In fact, with Su Xun's strength, he could solve this problem by going to the mountains by himself now, but how could Qin Chang and the others agree to let him go alone?

After confirming the location of the enemy, the intelligence was immediately relayed to Licheng, where troops were being mobilized to the mountain in preparation for an ambush.

“Every zombie king is not to be underestimated. Even if they are injured, they are in great danger. Make sure the frontline soldiers are safe and do not rush in and cause casualties. It is best to wait until I arrive before taking action.”

In any era, the lives of those who should not have been sacrificed are extremely precious, and this is especially true in the end times.

The thought of potential casualties made Su Xun anxious. It was something he could handle himself, so he had no choice but to set off as soon as possible.

This time, the number of personnel leaving the Taimeng base was much smaller. Su Xun only had one guard platoon. Yin Danyi became Su Xun's guard as she wished and served as the platoon leader. The rest of the people were also selected from the army. It would not be an exaggeration to say that this small guard platoon was full of hidden talents.

Regarding Yin Danyi, Su Xun contacted the safety zone in Pingyang after communications were restored, but he couldn't find any information about him, which is actually normal.

After the cataclysm, many files were lost, and electronic files were destroyed in the spiritual energy impact. The area where Yin Danyi was located was also covered by the secret realm and could not be entered.

However, many of the details he mentioned matched the local situation, and his behavior around Su Xun was also normal. Therefore, Su Xun did not delve too deeply into his background and only paid limited attention to him.

Perhaps some people really do have amazing luck, and that luck itself might be considered a kind of extraordinary ability.

To Su Xun's surprise, Yin Danyi had a profound understanding of extraordinary knowledge. Among those in the Taimon Base who had not yet reached the third rank, he was the one with the best chance of advancing quickly. Moreover, he was very organized when answering questions about this topic for others.

This was an unexpected bonus. Su Xun was quite busy, and Yin Danyi was the one who solved many practical problems in this unit, which was nominally a guard platoon but was actually a cram school.

However, there are some problems. Su Xun, sitting in the back row, glanced forward and said helplessly, "If you weren't so lazy, you would probably reach the third tier faster than Xiao Zhenru."

Yin Danyi, who was sprawled out in the passenger seat like a salted fish, straightened up upon hearing this and said seriously, "The principal's admonition is correct, and the student will definitely repent and correct his mistakes."

"You'd better shut up."

Su Xun rolled his eyes. The group of extraordinary individuals who had stayed in Haiqu liked to call him that. Recently, there seemed to be a phenomenon of human-to-human transmission.

After getting to know her better, he finally understood why Yin Danyi looked so slovenly and unkempt when he first met her – it was all because she was lazy.

Such a lazy person doesn't seem like someone with a tenth-order layout.

As long as nothing unusual happened, he didn't care how these people did things. After ignoring them, Su Xun looked out the window.

After a month of repeated cleaning, the transportation lines in various places can now be considered relatively safe.

Large-scale mobilization of personnel like that near Haizhou is difficult, and Han Zhong's solo journey would also face various crises. However, if it were just like Su Xun, with a well-equipped team moving quickly along a fixed route, their speed of movement would be comparable to that before the apocalypse.

After all, no one checks for speeding anymore.

They had only gone halfway when they encountered another convoy coming from the opposite direction. The horn sounded once, and both sides slowed down.

"Commander Su!"

It was Zheng Yuan who got off the bus on the other side and jogged towards Su Xun.

"You're heading back at this time too? That's quite a coincidence."

"Actually, it's not a coincidence." Zheng Yuan smiled. "It's not easy to clean this road once. I was originally planning to return, but when I heard you were coming this way, I set off immediately."

Once he said that, Su Xun understood.

In this environment, the transportation routes in each region are basically singular and fixed, and they are highly dependent on maintenance. After all, if such long roads are left idle, even if they are safe one day, the next day there will be wandering zombies approaching again.

Therefore, before important operations like theirs begin, shelters along the route will send people to clear out any zombies approaching the route.

The shipment of mutant crystals scheduled to be transported south also utilizes this method. Under this model, many civilian groups gather near transportation routes, enjoying the safe environment after the cleanup. This isn't necessarily a bad thing; once these civilian groups are numerous enough, they will spontaneously deal with zombies approaching their camps, ensuring the safety of the transportation routes.

It can be considered a complementary operating model. For a long time to come, many survivors will slowly develop along these transportation lines, thereby creating a new social form for this era.

Of course, that's a story for later. There was no time for pleasantries at the moment, so Su Xun went straight to asking the questions he was most concerned about.

"How is the situation in Licheng?"

Zheng Yuan replied, "Commander-in-Chief, rest assured. Division Commander Cheng Rui of Licheng takes your opinion very seriously and is being particularly cautious in his action plan against the Zombie King. Moreover, Comrade Yu Kai is also staying there as the frontline commander for this operation. With them there, there will be no trouble."

Su Xun nodded and breathed a sigh of relief. The troops in Licheng had maintained considerable strength, but there were always some stubborn officers who came from the war zone's land command and were of a higher rank than Qin Chang.

These people always like to make judgments based on their past experiences, and they often offer opinions on the orders issued by the Corps Command, causing some losses that should not have been incurred.

Given this situation, after the communication was established, Su Xun, Qin Chang, and Feng Zhengze, who was far away in Yanshan, together pushed the younger Cheng Rui forward.

In retrospect, this decision has served its purpose.

"That's good." Su Xun was relieved and then said, "I should have told you on the phone that I've already arranged a new job for you since you haven't gone back yet."

"Understood, I promise to complete the task!"

Zheng Yuan readily agreed, and Su Xun gave him a few more instructions on some important issues before the two parted ways.

After approaching Licheng along the transportation route, the convoy turned and headed straight for the hiding place of the zombie king.

The journey wasn't long, but after walking for more than an hour, they could hear the roar of artillery fire in the distance. The mountains were filled with the smell of gunpowder, and white smoke was constantly rising from the distant mountain peaks. There was no sign of any infantry on the battlefield.

All the vehicles brought here are armored vehicles, and they are currently pouring firepower into the mountains.

Guided by the deployed soldiers, Su Xun quickly found a command vehicle, from which Yu Kai came out to greet him.

Su Xun hadn't seen him for a long time, and seeing his greatly changed appearance, he couldn't help but sigh. However, with a formidable enemy at hand, it wasn't the time to talk about such things.

"How's it going? Have you pinpointed their location? Are there any casualties?"

"The location of the zombie king has not yet been determined, but it should be in this mountain. The number of zombies here is unusually high, and there were even third-tier zombies that tried to break through, but they have been blasted to death by us."

"There are no casualties for now. We are advancing in stages with armored vehicles, providing mutual cover. The number of zombies here has been greatly reduced, and they are unable to form a strong impact to break through the armor protection. The soldiers are relatively safe."

"Don't be careless. Supernatural abilities are unpredictable and difficult to discern. Moreover, judging from the intelligence, the opponent's abilities may be very versatile, and their individual strength is quite formidable."

"Okay." Yu Kai agreed, then asked in a low voice, "Commander-in-Chief, is that really...?"

"Don't ask questions you shouldn't ask." Su Xun sighed. "Have the soldiers gradually tighten the encirclement, and report back immediately after confirming the enemy's exact location. I'll go up and take care of them."

"This... Commander Qin specifically instructed me to..."

"fart."

Su Xun glared at Yu Kai: "Is he older or am I older?"

"He couldn't stop me, do you think you can?"

Yu Kai looked helpless. This was the first time Su Xun had handled things this way. It could only be said that this tactic was indeed effective in the military.

The hill wasn't very big to begin with, and there weren't many big mountains in this area, so soon a phone call came in.

Even from a short distance, Su Xun could hear the sounds coming from within.

"Report! Target spotted, spotted..."

"Boom!"

The two were startled and looked into the distance, where a huge fireball emerged from the forest.

"Detonation!"

Su Xun's eyes sharpened as he swung his hand and grabbed the command sword that he hadn't touched in a long time.

"Go up the mountain!"

(End of this chapter)