Doomsday America

Chapter 138 Hazel Mushrooms and the Approaching Survivors (10k)

The Indiana Oil Drilling Center is actually just a small oil field.

There are only a little over 140 nodding machines in the oil field, scattered in different locations in the forest, nodding day and night.

Of course, the nodding machines have all been discontinued now, since each nodding machine, also known as a beam pumping unit, needs to be connected to a generator to do work.

With Texas now completely without power, the fuel stored in the independent generators is unlikely to power the pumping stations for long.

Gavin shook his head as he walked forward, looking at the scattered nodding donkeys.

He was a little emotional, because this oil field was one of his original goals.

It is important to know that, in the entire world, only one farm has truly achieved the integration of agriculture, animal husbandry, and oil production, and has fully realized self-sufficiency.

That ranch is in Texas, it's the famous...Wagner Ranch.

That's right, Gavin Farm doesn't have its own oil fields or pumping stations. His farm is too new, and there hasn't been time to do a full-scale planning yet.

The biggest project on the farm is the fencing that surrounds all the land. Apart from that, there are fewer than 280 wind turbines, which are large fans that run in the wind near the planting area.

As Gavin continued to expand his ranch, he always liked the Wagner ranch model and wanted to turn his ranch into a private kingdom that encompassed agriculture, animal husbandry, and oil production.

Therefore, although the Indian settlement oil field was far away from him, the direction he provided for the expansion of the farm after Gavin began to expand was straight towards the Indian settlement oil field.

This is also the core reason why the farm extends eastward.

But now, Gavin has no interest in paying attention to those nodding donkeys that have stopped working.

At least for him now, those pumping machines are useless. Even if Gavin wants to use pumping machines to continue pumping oil in the future, he will have to solve the problem of oil refining first.

So Gavin walked straight past the haphazardly arranged pumping units and headed towards the oil field's storage center.

Normally, nodding donkeys are not all clustered around the warehouse center.

The scenes of hundreds or thousands of oil pumps neatly arranged, as depicted in movies and TV series, only appear in large oil fields with abundant oil and gas resources.

As for pumping units in small and medium-sized oil fields, especially privately owned pumping units for ultra-small independent oil wells...

To put it simply, the number of oil pumps in the United States is as numerous as the number of blast furnaces during the Great Leap Forward.

In Texas alone, there are millions of small, privately owned nodding donkeys operating in countless unimaginable places.

If you're interested in this, you can easily contract a few private knapsack machines in the United States for a small fee. As long as you can solve the sales channels and transportation issues, you can still make a small profit in this area.

In short, Gavin walked nearly 460 meters and arrived directly in front of the warehouse center with his hammer.

Because the oil field itself is not very large, the storage center does not look very big either, and it is pitifully small compared to Gavin's warehouse.

There were only a few transport vehicles parked near the warehouse center, two of which were tanker trucks, and the rest were pickup trucks.

In Texas, once you leave major cities like Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio, and park at any gas station in a small or medium-sized town, 95% of the vehicles will be pickup trucks.

Madison tried to integrate into Texas by modifying pickup trucks because Texas was truly born on pickup trucks.

At that moment, Gavin walked past a tanker truck and then strode to the main entrance of the storage center.

In front of him was a conventional square-shaped oilfield warehouse, and to the right of the warehouse were two tall oil storage towers and an egg-shaped natural gas storage tank.

However... that's all there is here, and Gavin can't even see a single person.

What do Native American settlements represent?
Although Americans are reluctant to admit it, when they mention Native Americans, the first thing that comes to mind is still scalping.

Americans like to do barbaric things under the guise of civilization, but in the process, they prefer to criticize all other barbarity as being even more barbaric than themselves, and insist on dividing barbarity into different levels.

It seems that by launching such attacks, they would appear less barbaric.

In short, Americans, including the old-school Texas tough guys, generally dislike close contact with people of all races other than Anglo-Saxons unless absolutely necessary.

Especially in places like Native American reservations, few outsiders would dare to come.

Although the Indian reservations embraced so-called civilization, they still retained the shadow of chieftainship at their core, and the influence of Indian gentry on the reservations was outrageous.

Therefore, they don't worry much about others stealing their oil fields.

Even if someone steals it, the thief is most likely their own child...

Maybe he's short of money because he wants to have fun, or maybe he lost too much money after playing a few hands of cards.

So even if Gavin was carrying a hammer and smashing it haphazardly against the warehouse door lock, it was still a problem.

No zombies emerged from within a 500-meter radius of him!
And so, after about fourteen or fifteen hammer blows.

Wow.

The lock finally broke completely.

The reason Gavin was hammered so many times wasn't because he lacked strength, but because his hammer was too light.

A 2.5-kilogram single-handed claw hammer is certainly heavy for use on the battlefield, but its demolition capabilities are naturally inferior to those of the standard 10-25 pound sledgehammers used on construction sites.

At this moment, Gavin, who had gone to great lengths to break the lock, couldn't help but feel that his melee weapon was a bit too light.

After all, someone with his deadlift and bench press strength is a monster with world record-breaking abilities, if he were in ancient Europe.

He should be a super-powerful guy who wears heavy plate armor and wields two-handed greatswords, yet is still much more agile than an ordinary knight.

With only a one-handed claw hammer, Gavin felt that if he were really cornered by zombies, the claw hammer would be completely useless in his close combat.

If he carries two standard two-handed greatswords, each weighing slightly more than the regular version, around 3.6 to 5 kilograms.

Then the force of his slashes must be strong enough to terrify the zombies!

Those who have watched the forging competition know the power of a high-quality two-handed greatsword; it can easily slice a pig in half with a single strike!

With a pig's skin, flesh, and bones, a two-handed greatsword could cut it in half as easily as playing with it. Gavin thought he could probably cut down two or three ordinary zombies with a single strike.

After all, zombies don't have armor.
Thinking of this, Gavin grinned, then reached out and opened the door to the warehouse, looking inside at the various barrels covered in oil stains.

Following one large barrel after another, Gavin bypassed the main storage area and crossed the chemical fuel area, arriving at the cold-filled pressure tank area he had been looking forward to.

How can you tell which containers contain liquid carbon dioxide?
It's really simple. Just check if there are pressure gauges on those pipes, and you'll be pretty much right.

Only the storage areas of large petrochemical facilities contain a lot of things like propylene hydrogen and aromatics, while small oil fields like Indian settlements don't have much natural gas.

Gavin glanced at the pressure tank, and after confirming that the bottom of the tank was marked with the word CO2, he took out his walkie-talkie and spoke.

"Martin, just drive the car over here. The warehouse area is as quiet as a horror movie set."

"Oh... Boss, now that you mention it, it feels like there's a lion in the warehouse. Don't scare me!"

Martin smiled and answered, then drove through the woods and stopped in front of the warehouse.

Seeing the car stop, Gavin waved to Martin from a distance.

"Look for lions yourself. Hurry up and look. After you've looked, come with me to move the things. We'll just take two buckets back first."

Gavin called it a bucket, but it was actually a high-pressure steel cylinder.

Martin nodded and got out of the car, then went to the cylinder with Nikita, who also got out.

Gavin patted the nearest gas cylinder and laughed.

"This thing is heavy, so be prepared to work hard. Luckily, this oil field is small, and the cylinders are also small, otherwise we probably would have had to use a forklift to handle it."

As he spoke, Gavin reached out and lifted the high-pressure cylinder.

Wow, that's really heavy, I'd guess around 80 kilograms.

In order to effectively store liquid carbon dioxide, conventional high-pressure steel cylinders weigh almost 40 kilograms when empty, and when fully filled to 90%, the weight will approach 80 kilograms.

As Gavin put down the cylinder, he glanced at the pressure gauge.

Fortunately, the pressure was only around 180 atmospheres, not exceeding 18 MPa.

Gavin wasn't sure if the pressure was safe, but judging from the pressure gauge needle, it was at least hovering around the green edge.

However, looking at the gas cylinder, Nikita pursed her lips with a lingering sense of unease.

"Sir."

Nikita then spoke to Gavin.

"When we go back, we absolutely must not take the bumpy roads. I have seen a case from about ten years ago, which was the liquid carbon dioxide explosion in Ohio."

"If I remember correctly, the high-pressure cylinder that exploded was 50 liters in size, and it was overfilled to 95 percent. Because it was exposed to the sun, the pressure rose to over 25 MPa."

"Then... fragments from that gas cylinder explosion even pierced through a 20-centimeter-thick concrete wall..."

At this point, Nikita glanced back at the Battle Shield.

Gavin nodded and said to her.

"Don't worry, no matter how much the Russians overhype the defensive capabilities of the shield, I don't want to use the Kaibaihe shield for performance testing."

At this point, Gavin pointed to the considerable amount of various fabrics in the warehouse, including awnings, and continued.

“Nikita, Martin, let’s find some tattered tarpaulins to line the cargo hold of the War Shield.”

"After the high-pressure cylinders are installed, we will use those things to fill the warehouse as much as possible, so that the cylinders have no chance to shake."

"If this still can't guarantee the cylinder is intact, then you two shouldn't blame me after you meet God."

"Or perhaps we will meet in front of Satan?"

After saying that, Gavin chuckled jokingly, and then Martin helped move the gas cylinders, while Nikita went to pack up the tarpaulin.

It took the three of them a full fifteen minutes to properly place the two cylinders. After that, Gavin and his two companions returned to their vehicle and drove the War Shield back the way they came.

As they left the oil field area, Martin sat in the back seat, looking lost and dejected.

They continued until they had even crossed the small town, and all that lay before them was a vast expanse of farmland.

Martin finally couldn't help but speak up.

"This trip has been quite peaceful. This is my first time traveling far from home with you all. I thought I would encounter some exciting things."

At this point, Martin simply sprawled out on the back of the driver's seat, raised his hand, and pointed to his forehead at Gavin.

"And boss, you have a fever. This is a common plot in movies. When the team leader is unwell, the team will definitely face a crisis. I thought I could show off my skills today."

After saying that, Martin sat back in his seat, took out a cigarette, lit it, and leaned against the car window to smoke.

Gavin responded to him with amusement.

"Don't treat your life like a movie. Life doesn't have that many exciting plots. A few of them are already quite a hassle."

"Aside from horror movies, you probably know that no matter what the main characters do in other movies, they won't die."

"But we, buddy, we're going to die, and it'll be brutal."

As they chatted, the three of them traveled nearly 115 kilometers and arrived near the manor.

This journey covered a total distance of nearly 230 kilometers, and the tank of fuel in the tank was more than half empty.

So Gavin stopped at the gas depot to fill up his tank before driving the car to the vicinity of the stables.

He didn't want to keep the high-pressure gas cylinder near his home.

After taking Martin into the stable, they placed the cylinder in a dark spot.

Gavin raised his hand and waved to Martin.

"Martin, you and Nikita get in the car and wait for me. I'm going to check on the zombie situation."

"No way, boss! If we're going to watch it, we should watch it together. I want to broaden my horizons too. How about I take you with me?"

Martin smiled and greeted Gavin, who simply nodded.

"Alright."

As they spoke, the three of them left the house with the high-pressure gas cylinder and arrived at the stable where Gavin used to keep the living zombies.

Gavin approached the door and pushed it open a crack. After glancing inside, his eyes widened in surprise for a moment.

Martin, oblivious to Gavin's change, was still exchanging pleasantries with Nikita.

He then spoke in a very casual manner.

"If you ask me, one zombie is still too few for us. If the boss is willing to let me go out for a couple of days, let me set some traps in the woods, and maybe seduce a few more in other towns."

"I have a feeling that I can capture at least dozens of zombies within three days!"

"We'll practice our marksmanship on zombies then. What target is better than a real zombie? Boss, I think this is the best way to quickly improve the combat effectiveness of the camp members."

"Believe me, as long as I'm not surrounded by thousands or tens of thousands of zombies, I'll be in no danger. When I encountered a pack of wolves in Siberia, even they couldn't do anything to me, so what are zombies? Boss, what do you say... Boss?"

Just as Martin finished speaking, Nikita gently tugged at Martin's sleeve.

After being reminded by Nikita, Martin, caught up in the excitement, finally noticed Gavin's activity.

Gavin had been peering through the door for quite a while now, without moving an inch!
Martin then leaned closer to Gavin, instantly becoming tense as he asked Gavin a question.

"Boss, what happened?!"

"It's nothing, I just... damn it, I probably don't want to eat mushrooms anymore!"

Gavin, suppressing his nausea, replied to Martin, then braced his hands against the stable door and opened it wide enough for one person to pass through.

After opening the door, Martin and Nikita quickly looked at the zombie.

Then they couldn't help but kiss each other.

In the far left corner of the stable, the zombie was still tightly bound by ropes, lying motionless on the ground.

The key thing is his body surface, especially the skin exposed outside his pajamas, which now has more than twenty densely packed little mushrooms growing on it!

Gavin could clearly see that the zombie had three whole mushrooms growing on its face, with two more growing on the top and back of its head.

In addition, his shoulders, back, waist and abdomen were also covered by mushrooms, which did not appear to be too dense at the moment!

Besides the mushrooms, the mycelium was no exception. At this moment, the dark yellow mycelium had already emerged from the ground and formed a thin net along the zombie's body in the corner of the stable.

Gavin's gaze followed the mycelium that connected the two walls at the corner, roughly concealing the zombies, and then fell back onto the mushrooms.

He couldn't help but chuckle a little again.

Having witnessed firsthand the fungal hyphae beneath the aggregate, Gavin was prepared for the possibility of zombies growing mushrooms.

But the zombies he had always imagined might grow into mushrooms, or at least brightly colored poisonous mushrooms, or mushrooms that looked rotten and smelled extremely disgusting.

He never expected that the mushrooms growing on the zombies would be hazel mushrooms!

Hazel mushrooms are the kind of mushrooms that are often used in the dish "chicken stew with mushrooms" in Northeastern dialect!
This mushroom is also very common in the United States, where most people call it the honey mushroom.

Of course, some states in the United States have common names for this mushroom. For example, people in Michigan like to call hazel mushrooms "tree gold".

This type of mushroom is found in almost every supermarket in the United States, and you can probably find hazel mushrooms in any household!
The worst part is that Doris just made mushroom soup last night!

Some of the mushrooms she used in her soup were hazel mushrooms!

"yue..."

Thinking of this, Gavin couldn't help but gag as he leaned against the door.

Beside him, Nikita swallowed hard, then asked Gavin, puzzled.

"Sir, why is it... why is it a honey mushroom!"

"Yeah, damn it, there are so many kinds of mushrooms in the world, why the hell do zombies grow honey mushrooms? I drank three bowls of mushroom soup last night... Ugh... Fuck!"

Martin was even more extreme than Nikita. Nikita at least made a few noises, but Martin simply ran to the side and leaned against the stable to vomit.

Gavin didn't mock Martin, just as Gavin didn't blame Martin for his recent erratic thinking.

Whether it's a sudden shift in thinking or a strong stress response, this at least proves that Martin is genuinely trying to quit hormonal.

Every withdrawal reaction is bound to be accompanied by various discomforts, and Martin will have to persevere for at least another half month before he can see any initial results.

At that moment, Martin spat twice, then spat out a final, fierce "Pui!" before wiping his mouth with his sleeve, straightening up, and saying menacingly.

"This shit, I can't stand it anymore, I'm going to burn it! I never want to see it or those mushrooms on it again!"

As he spoke, Martin immediately pulled out a lighter and walked into the stable.

However, just as he reached Gavin's side and was about to pass Gavin and enter the stable...

Gavin suddenly stopped him and said something to him.

"Don't burn it. This guy is still useful. My observation isn't over yet!"

"Right now, all we see is that after a zombie stays for too long, it connects to the ground through mycelium, and at the same time, honey mushrooms grow on its body." "But besides that, we don't yet have any information about how large the honey mushrooms will develop on its body, whether the mycelium will form a web or fungal cocoon on its body, or whether the zombie will completely perish under the continuous growth of mycelium and mushrooms!"

"Besides, damn it, look at the mushrooms and spores in the house, are you sure you want to go directly near them?"

"I regret not wearing a gas mask now. Regardless of whether those spores cause us secondary harm or increase the spore content in our bodies, I don't want to have close contact with those things through my mouth and respiratory tract!"

"So from now on, every one of us must carry a gas mask wherever we go. This must be written into the camp rules and the zombie survival guide!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Gavin slammed the stable door shut, trapping the zombie inside.

In the past, this zombie would have already relentlessly pursued them, drawn by the sound of their voices and the door closing.

But now, even if the door slams shut with an astonishing sound, the zombie only sways slightly in the corner, then turns its head and looks toward the source of the sound with its eyes, the whites of which are gradually being replaced by a grayish-yellow color.

Gavin peered through the crack in the door, staring intently into the zombie's eyes.

He only breathed a sigh of relief after watching for more than ten seconds, because he didn't see any trace of thought in those eyes.

So he locked the door and said to Nikita and Martin.

“Nikita, Martin, when we get back, prepare some fuel and place it around this stable.”

"I don't think it's over just by blowing its head off. This kind of zombie should at least be burned to ashes!"

"Oh right, we also need to dig a safety barrier around this stable. Damn it, I don't even want this stable anymore."

After saying that, Gavin strode towards the shield; he didn't want to stay in the vicinity any longer.

Martin and his companion hurriedly followed him back to the car.

As the car drew closer to the manor, Nikita couldn't help but tap Gavin's hand resting on the gearshift and whisper.

"Sir, isn't burning down the stables a bit excessive? Most of the stables are connected; wouldn't the losses be too great if we burned them down?"

"Yeah, you're right. I might have acted impulsively. Let's just say I had a fever, or maybe I was really hurt by the hazel mushroom!"

Gavin responded irritably and parked the Battle Shield in the garage.

Because he returned early today, there weren't many people to greet him; it was just William and Winnie.

As soon as Gavin left the garage, Winnie rushed over, giving him a big hug and rubbing her little nose against his chest.

Winnie said to Gavin.

"Boss, do you have a fever? You feel a little hotter than this morning!"

"Hmm? Morning? When?"

Before Gavin could reply, Nikita glanced suspiciously at Gavin and Winnie.

Meeting Nikita's gaze, Winnie released Gavin, then rolled her eyes at Nikita and said teasingly.

"What, lawyer? Are you looking to switch careers and become a private investigator, or should I call you a paparazzi?"

"Heh, you've become much more aggressive, kid. Is there something you're worried about?"

Nikita grabbed Winnie's head and ruffled her hair vigorously. At the same time, Gavin moved away from the two women and strode over to William, asking a question.

"William, how's the camp? Everything's alright, right?"

“No problem, boss. Everyone’s doing their jobs. Old Bert has started broadcasting. Horst is following your orders. Adriana isn’t here, and he hasn’t tried to go to the armory or the shooting range. He’s been cleaning up around our area.”

"The only thing that worries me a little is Eugene and the others. There's been no news of them since they left, but they're just in the resort area, so they shouldn't run into any problems."

As soon as he finished speaking, William followed Gavin back to the hall, while Gavin walked over the sofa and up to the second floor, asking William as he went.

"The radio's started broadcasting? Is it old Bert broadcasting it?"

“Yeah, boss, you’ve only been gone for less than twenty minutes and old Bert has already set up the radio. Bella and I can hear his voice on the radio.”

William enthusiastically agreed, clearly indicating that the successful reconnection of the radio had significantly boosted the team's morale.

Upon hearing the news, Gavin quickened his pace.

He strode up to the second floor and then spoke to Martin and the other man.

"Martin, Nikita, could you two please deliver the fuel to the vicinity of the stables? Just place it in a conspicuous spot, and make sure it doesn't go near the mushroom zombies inside the stables."

"I'm going to check on old Bert and our radio. Could you bring me a radio while you're at it?"

After saying that, Gavin didn't wait for their response and went straight to the third floor.

Seeing this, Winnie turned to Nikita with a smile and said something.

"Thank you for your hard work, Nikita~"

As soon as she finished speaking, Winnie rushed behind Gavin and followed him to the third floor, making a face at Nikita as she turned back.

Seeing Winnie sticking out her tongue, Nikita initially put on an angry look, but then she couldn't maintain her expression.

She pursed her lips, amused, and smiled.

"That brat!"

"Hmm, the boss's mind is definitely not on the kid, but in his heart, it seems that neither you nor the kid are as important as the radio, haha!"

Martin laughed and patted Nikita on the shoulder before walking downstairs on his own.

Nikita immediately tried to follow, but after taking only two steps, Martin turned back and called out to her.

"You should stay home and rest for a while. It's just delivering two barrels of fuel; I can handle that myself."

"This……"

Nikita hesitated for a moment, then realized that Martin made sense, so she didn't follow him and went back to her room on her own.

Meanwhile, in the broadcasting room on the third floor.

Gavin eagerly pushed open the door and looked expectantly at old Bert who was speaking.

Noticing Gavin's arrival, old Bert paused, then changed the subject and chuckled.

"Aha, friends who are listening to this broadcast, your lucky moment has arrived."

"Guess who's behind me? It's Gavin from the Cowboys, of course! Gavin's back!"

"Gavin, come and chat with our listeners. They're really looking forward to hearing your voice."

"Come on, come on~"

As they were talking, old Bert gave up his seat, and Gavin sat down in front of the radio and looked into the microphone to ask a question.

"We already have an audience?"

"Uh, kid, are you running a fever? Your brain isn't working as fast as usual. How are we supposed to know how many listeners there are!"

"But I'm sure there are people listening to our broadcast, after all, the world is so big, isn't it?"

Old Bert patted Gavin on the shoulder.

Upon hearing this, Gavin couldn't help but pause slightly.

Could a fever really cause such a big change in me?
How many people have noticed this?

What kind of image do they usually have of me?

How come everyone is so perceptive about my slightest flaws or my slightest lapse in judgment?
Are these really the troublemakers I led?
If you were all sent to other camps, you could probably be the main characters, right?

Gavin shook his head as he thought about it, then picked up the microphone.

Seeing Gavin pick up the microphone, old Bert immediately made a cheering gesture and said...

"Have faith, kid. Imagine you're standing on the Super Bowl podium!"

"Ha, I don't need you to remind me, old man, because I'm used to those moments!"

Gavin responded to old Bert with a smile, then promptly turned on the radio and spoke.

"I'm glad I can still make my voice heard in the apocalypse, and I'm glad you can still hear it."

"Hi everyone, this is Gavin King from the Dallas Cowboys. I'm alive and well, just like every one of you listening here!"

At that moment, Gavin's voice was transmitted to the ears of countless survivors who were listening, for the first time via radio.

at the same time……

"Aha, he really is still alive!"

Inside a moving vehicle, the driver excitedly banged on the car radio, then slammed on the accelerator, pushing the pickup truck to its speed limit.

Meanwhile, in the resort area, the Eugene trio was gradually advancing along the edge of Lake Richards, exploring and clearing out the resort.

Eugene and Old Feng suddenly looked up and exchanged a surprised glance.

Behind them, Adriana stopped suspiciously, kicked Eugene with her shoe, and asked.

"Hey, you guys... um?"

Before she could finish speaking, she stopped herself because she could already hear the faint sound of a car!
At the same time, Eugene suddenly shouted.

"boarding!"

Hearing its sound, the three of them hurriedly left the villa and ran towards their car.

But just as the three of them got back into the car, Eugene hurriedly started the engine.

"Whoosh!"

"Holy crap, that's fast! It's even faster than when I first drove it!"

Eugene cursed, because in less than half a minute, the car had gone from being heard to speeding past them and heading towards the farm!
So Eugene floored the gas pedal and raced after the manor.

In the passenger seat, Adriana frowned and clutched her gun tightly as she watched the car leave the villa and gradually approach the main highway along the side road.

She couldn't help but speak up.

"This car is clearly not ours, and it's going way too fast. Could this guy be someone who has a grudge against the boss?"

"You're talking nonsense!"

As soon as Adriana finished speaking, Eugene retorted with a curse.

"Given Gavin's personality, how could he possibly make enemies? People are already being kind by not treating him like royalty. Don't you know what kind of person he is!"

"Huh? Should I know that?"

Hearing Eugene's words, Adriana shook her head with amusement.

After a brief pause, Adriana pondered for a moment, then nodded and smiled wryly.

"You're right. Gavin is a really good guy. At least I didn't see any...discrimination in his eyes!"

"You know what I mean, right? It's that kind of contempt that big shots have for small people. I've seen too many hypocritical rich people. They only look at me properly when they're sucking up to me in Puxi. Otherwise, it's like they don't even see me!"

"Or perhaps, in their eyes, I'm not even a person, but a tool, a cheap tool at that. I can't be wrong; those people are just that kind of bastards!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Adriana spat dismissively and casually took out a cigarette and lit it.

In the back seat, Old Feng nodded in agreement with Adriana and smiled.

"Yeah, although Gavin seems a bit unapproachable, the way he looks at me is perfectly normal. Don't tell me you're not racist. I've seen plenty of similar looks before and after the apocalypse."

After saying that, Lao Feng took out his walkie-talkie, ready to report to the manor at any time.

However, there's no need to rush, since the resort is still nearly 20 kilometers away from the manor, and besides, they might be able to catch up with that car.

In the front seat, upon hearing Lao Feng's words, Eugene and Adriana exchanged a glance, then instinctively shook their heads.

"Don't talk nonsense. We don't discriminate against anyone. You can talk about anything, but you absolutely cannot say that we discriminate against anyone. That's impossible!"

Eugene gave Old Feng the middle finger.

And Adriana.

She shook her head with conviction, then said to Old Feng.

"That's right, my future Asian partners, I would never be racist, because the second thing I hate is racists, and the first thing I hate is Japanese!"

"what?"

Hearing Adriana's words, Old Feng glanced at her with amusement.

In the driver's seat, Eugene pulled out a walkie-talkie and nodded in agreement.

"That's right, I also hate Japanese people the most, but they have their advantages, because discriminating against them isn't considered racial discrimination, haha~"

Amidst the laughter, Eugene picked up the walkie-talkie and spoke to the manor staff.

“I am Eugene. There’s a pickup truck speeding toward the manor from the resort area at over 110 miles per hour. I’m driving a Knight XV, and it’ll be difficult to catch up with it!”

"William, go find Madison and old Bert. The three of you try to observe and receive them. If they're hostile to us, then William, don't you dare have any mercy. Be ruthless, you son of a bitch!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Eugene put away the walkie-talkie and then sped up as much as possible.

However, the Knight XV is, after all, an armored vehicle, and its maximum speed is limited; it can't catch up with a pickup truck that travels at over 170 kilometers per hour.

However, just as Eugene and his trio were starting to worry, a new voice came through their walkie-talkie.

"I am Gavin, and I am at home."

"Phew, boss, you're actually home. That's all right now. We'll slow down, see you in a bit~"

Eugene immediately responded over the intercom, then let out a long sigh of relief. He slowed down the Knight XV while moving his hand to the back seat and giving Old Feng a high five.

After the high-five, Eugene looked at Old Feng with appreciation.

This guy is pretty amazing. No matter how suddenly I try to give him a high five, he always manages to react!
Meanwhile, regarding the manor...

Gavin, who was chatting and exchanging pleasantries with his virtual audience on the radio, spoke into the radio after receiving a call from Eugene.

"My fellow survivors, we must say goodbye for a moment, for our post-apocalyptic survival camp has welcomed new visitors!"

"Aha, it's true, they saw me, their people saw me!"

Just as Gavin finished speaking, in the pickup truck traveling at 110 miles per hour, the driver excitedly pounded on the radio, then uncontrollably burst into tears.

He slowed down slightly while crying.

After confirming through the radio that everything he heard was not a dream, his sense of urgency intensified!
But his will to live only became stronger!

So he decided to drive safely.

And so, about twelve minutes later!

In front of Gavin Manor, Gavin sat imposingly inside his battle shield, casually parking it horizontally on the road.

Beside him, Martin, holding his heavy crossbow, looked into the distance with a cigarette in his mouth and said...

"Boss, that car is here, it's a Raptor. I'm so tired of this car, can't we see something more unique?"

"Ha~"

Hearing Martin's words, Gavin patted Martin on the shoulder and laughed.

"Texas cannot live without the Ford Raptor and the Dodge Ram, just as Europe cannot live without Jerusalem."

In rural Texas, over 95% of the vehicles on the streets are pickup trucks.

In Texas, raptors and rams make up at least 40 percent of all pickup trucks, and that's no joke!
While the two exchanged a few pleasantries, the Ford Raptor in the distance gradually slowed down and finally stopped in front of the Shield.

Before Martin and Gavin could open the car window to ask, the driver of the other car, after confirming that there was someone inside the Shield, immediately pushed open the car door and jumped out of the Raptor.

He raised his hands high and shouted loudly at the Kaiberhide Shield.

"Don't shoot! I'm the survivor you're talking about. I came here because I heard it on the radio, and I'm a fan of Gavin!"

"Do I need to put my hands behind my head and squat on the ground, or should I just lie down on the ground and press my hands against the ground?"

At this point, the survivor, who had his hands raised high, made a gesture as if he was about to kneel down on the ground.

Upon seeing this, Gavin was startled in the car.

He was genuinely amused by the survivor.

How could this survivor have so much experience being questioned by American police?

They even know how to lie on the ground and press their hands against the ground!
While mentally complaining, Gavin quickly got out of the car and strode toward the unarmed survivors.

(End of this chapter)