Industrial Cthulhu doesn't believe in the end times.

Chapter 131 Haizhou Master

The relaxed atmosphere vanished as they approached the front lines.

The decisive battle has not yet arrived, but that does not mean peace; small and medium-sized battles are taking place at any time.

For such a massive zombie horde, even a medium-sized attack could involve hundreds of thousands of zombies.

Fortunately, the zombie hordes here are actually easier to deal with than in other areas. For example, in places like Licheng, the ordinary zombies were mostly trapped in rooms and unable to break free, while the proportion of mutated zombies in the zombie hordes was quite large.

In Haizhou, this ratio is more normal, with only one in hundreds of zombies possessing mutated abilities.

Far from the shelter, the sound of gunfire could be heard from the armed carriages ahead from time to time. In some places, the railway was damaged, and the train had to stop to repair it. Fortunately, now that there were superhumans on board, it wouldn't take long to lay a new track.

Wherever the railway and highway intersect, you can often encounter vehicles loaded with supplies.

The previously implemented policies have shown their effectiveness, with many civilian groups responding to the mobilization to participate in this great war. Even after leaving the safe zone, these people's enthusiasm for participating in the war is not low. After all, it can be said to be a racial war. In this era, no one is without a blood feud with zombies. Once the zombie horde gets out of control, even large shelters will have difficulty surviving, let alone these small organizations scattered in various places.

Occasionally, Su Xun would see convoys carrying specific flags. These were teams organized by Han Zhong, who called themselves the Hunter Association. They operated on a franchise model and rapidly expanded with the support of various shelters. Although it had only been a short time, they had already reached a certain scale.

These people often became leaders and organizers of smaller groups. They drove vehicles collected from various places to help the Corps transport supplies, transport the wounded, and handle corpses.

Not only human corpses need to be dealt with, but zombies also need to be dealt with, otherwise it will bring many hidden dangers. How to deal with them depends on the situation. If they need to be transported to a designated location, then civilian groups need to help. Su Chang often saw that some pickup trucks had tarpaulins covering their cargo beds, and dirty blood was flowing out of the gaps in the cargo beds.

Su Xun took these scenes in stride, but the people in the car became increasingly silent. Even Tao Yue quieted down, rubbing the oracle bone incessantly, seemingly making a prophecy about something, but her brows were always furrowed, and she couldn't even eat her snacks.

The train departed from Xinfu, passed through Langya, and headed south out of the Taimeng area until it arrived at Zhongwu at night. Then it went east into Haizhou. The enemy's front-line command for this battle was set up in the railway station in Hailing County, on the outskirts of Haizhou City.

The entire Hailing County is now home to a large number of survivors. It is not only the location of the command post, but also the logistics base for this operation, making it a key node in the plan to encircle Haizhou.

Two hundred thousand frontline troops have been gathered from surrounding cities and counties, while the number of logistics personnel far exceeds that. Moreover, surrounding civilian organizations also regard this place as a supply center, or even a future permanent base.

Meanwhile, many of the survivors who were less affected by the zombie king and had evacuated from the shelters in the danger zone also gathered here.

Hailing County was not small, with a total population of over one million. However, when divided among the surrounding towns and villages, the county seat itself only had a population of one or two hundred thousand. The people who are still flocking to the county seat have given it a pre-apocalyptic appearance.

Since the train station was the command center, Su Xun could see many local soldiers waiting on the platform after the armed train arrived.

Many people were quite curious about the huge black bear that stepped from the cart onto the platform, but since they had been notified in advance, they did not do anything inappropriate and just watched from a distance.

Liu Zhen, the chief of staff of the Jianghuai Corps, greeted Su Xun. He had arrived earlier and was the highest-ranking commander in the area besides Su Xun.

The two had spoken on the phone before, so Su Xun was already quite familiar with him. Upon meeting him, he asked, "How is your commander doing?"

“I woke up when I set off, but I wasn’t in good spirits. And he… is feeling very guilty right now, and he’s probably under a lot of mental pressure. He also often questions his own ideas. He’s currently adjusting his state. The affairs of the Jianghuai Corps are currently under the jurisdiction of the Shanghai Command.”

The Jianghuai region covers a vast area, and not only do its many subordinate cities have a tradition of being scattered, but its command centers are also multi-centered.

Regarding the commander's situation, Su Xun nodded helplessly. This was a sequela of being affected by the Zombie King. His situation was relatively mild. Even someone like Chi Xiaoyun, who had only been parasitized for a short time, was facing problems such as amnesia and loss of supernatural abilities. Moreover, she was still lying in a hospital bed and had not woken up.

"Let him rest well. This is something none of us wanted to see happen. The organization is well aware that those losses were not his responsibility."

"Understood, I will pass it on to the commander." "Alright, let's not talk about that. Find someone to arrange the supply for the armored train and send some superhumans on board. It will be heading south next."

Su Xun naturally wouldn't go to Lingnan on this train; Haizhou needed him more now.

For the train, the long journey from Taimeng to Haizhou is only the beginning. To forge a path through this chaotic world, many people still need to work hard.

The group entered the command center set up in the train station. Su Xun looked out the window and saw that the large square in front of the station was covered with tents.

"These are mostly Haizhou residents waiting to be resettled. They have just been evacuated from the danger zone, and we have provided them with a batch of tents... The resettlement sites in Hailing County are already full, and we are gradually clearing out new settlements. Some rooms may still contain zombies."

"We need to act quickly. These people have been greatly frightened. How can they feel at ease sleeping in tents?"

"clear."

"In addition, these people can be transferred to other safe zones. If there is not enough transportation capacity, we can entrust civilian groups to assist."

“It’s already being done, but…” Liu Zhen said with a heavy expression, “Some people don’t want to leave; they want to participate in the next war.”

"Who?"

"...The surviving officers and soldiers of the Haizhou Division, upon learning that you had arrived in Haizhou, prepared to come and see you. These people have asked me to fight many times, but I have refused them all."

Su Xun frowned: "It's the right thing to not let them participate in the war. The corps' organization in Haizhou has suffered huge losses. If the fighting continues, this organization may be wiped out."

"In the future, we dare not say that we can give the people of Haizhou back a complete Haizhou, but at least we can let the people on this land reunite, and build a new home no matter where they are. People can survive even if they lose land. No matter where you go, Haizhou is still Haizhou."

Liu Zhen: "That's what I told them too, but..."

As he spoke, he solemnly took a letter from a file storage box.

The envelope was quite thick, but it looked like it had been crumpled, with many creases and cracks, and it was also stained with dust and blood.

"This is?"

"Things sent out from Shelter 18."

Su Xun's heart sank, and he turned to look at the large map hanging in the command post.

"Within the occupied area?"

"No, it was actually on the edge, but... it's now confirmed that it has fallen."

"...How was this sent out? I remember that we lost contact here after the screening started?"

"They put the letter in a shell and fired it with a mortar to an unconquered shelter, where it was then carried out by the people there."

(End of this chapter)