Mechanic endlessly amassing troops in the apocalypse

Chapter 183 Ambush

The fully armed people in the photo, the densely packed zombie corpses, and the battle marks on the building's exterior all indicate that this group is very strong.

Having survived the apocalypse for so long, he still has some sense of propriety.

"Do you really have the ability?" Old Xu asked again, but this time there was no doubt in his tone.

"Old Xu," Mei Xicai put the photos away, "if I really wanted to deceive you, why would I bring so many supplies? I could just wait for you to go and fight tonight, and let you die. I came to you only because our Brother Fei values ​​every life."

Old Xu's eye twitched slightly.

"Zhao Guangli's, and those young men who followed Brother Fei," Mei Xicai continued, "they all came from Lijiazhuang. They were willing to risk their lives for Brother Fei, and Brother Fei was willing to give them a home. Now you're asking me, given your conflicts with Li Fei, whether he'll accept you back?" He paused, then said, word by word, "Do you think someone who can recruit his mortal enemy would care about your little squabbles?"

Old Xu fell silent.

The sounds of people from the refugee community could be heard outside the shed.

"Alright." Old Xu finally nodded and said, "I promise you."

Tie Tou, standing nearby, said anxiously, "Old Xu!"

"Shut up." Old Xu raised his cane, stopping Tie Tou. He looked at Mei Xicai, "Tell me, what do you need us to do?"

Mei Xicai smiled slightly: "It's simple. Tonight, the Iron Stone Camp will send you to lead the vanguard, so just do as they say. But once you get there, your task is to deal with the vanguard's supervisor."

"Solve the problem of the military supervisor?"

"Yes. Of course we will help you solve it." Mei Xicai nodded.

Old Xu frowned. "And then what?"

Mei Xicai laughed and said, "After that, it's very simple. You just need to pretend that you have successfully infiltrated and then lure them in."

Iron Head was taken aback: "It's that simple?"

Mei Xicai shrugged. "Actually, our motives have always been very simple: we just hope to kill fewer people."

"I understand." Old Xu stood up, leaning on his cane. "I've lived for over sixty years, and even in my old age, I still want to go all out."

"Alright, this old man will take this gamble with you."

Mei Xicai turned and walked to the entrance of the shed. As he lifted the curtain, he paused, turned back, and said, "By the way, Xu..."

Old man, Fei asked me to pass on a message to you.

"What did you say?"

He said that at the entrance of the Lijiazhuang camp, you were just doing what any manager would do. He understood.

Therefore, from today onwards, the people of Lijiazhuang, like Zhao Guangli, are people of the new world.

The curtain fell, and Mei Xicai's figure disappeared outside the shed.

The shed was quiet for a while.

Tie Tou stood in the corner, his mouth opening and closing several times before he finally managed to utter a single sentence: "Old Xu—we're changing employers already?"

Old Xu slowly sat back down on the bed, leaning on his cane, and let out a long sigh: "It's not a change of employer. It's finding a reliable employer."

He looked up at Tie Tou: "Go, call all the brothers over. We need to discuss tonight's events carefully."

Wu Qiming's study in the core area of ​​Tieshi Camp.

When Han Lei pushed the door open and came in, Wu Qiming was analyzing the defense map brought by Mei Xicai, holding a pencil in his hand and writing or drawing on it from time to time.

"Angkor, you were looking for me?"

Without turning his head, Wu Qiming asked, "How's the mobilization going?"

Han Lei pushed up his glasses, a smug smile on his face: "Don't worry, Brother Wu, everything's arranged. The main force consists of 120 people, all above level 15, with 13 of them above level 30. We've also recruited about 200 people from the refugees; although their levels aren't high, they're enough as cannon fodder. Adding the 70 or 80 people from Li Family Village, the total number of people deployed tonight is close to 400."

"Did the people from Lijiazhuang agree?"

"He agreed." Han Lei sneered. "That old man Xu was unwilling at first, but as soon as I said I was going to cut off their food rations, he immediately backed down. These old bastards, they don't know when to back down, they only behave when things get really heated."

Wu Qiming frowned slightly, turned around and looked at him: "Han Yan, have you gotten too arrogant lately?"

Han Lei's smile froze, and he quickly lowered his head: "Brother Wu, that's not what I meant." "Alright." Wu Qiming waved his hand, walked behind the desk and sat down, "We must not be careless in dealing with Li Fei's camp."

He picked up his teacup, took a sip, and looked at Han Lei through the rim of the cup. His tone became serious: "According to the information our scouts have sent back, this Li Fei is no ordinary person. He can wipe out thousands of zombies by himself, and he also has at least a hundred mechanical creations under his command. Even if he has been lured away and is not in the camp, we still need to be careful when dealing with his remaining forces."

Han Lei paused for a moment, then asked, somewhat puzzled, "Brother Wu, is this Li Fei really that powerful? When I saw him at the Li Family Village camp before, I thought he was just some guy who used high-tech mechanical beasts to intimidate people. Those mechanical leopards may look intimidating, but maybe they're just for show?"

Wu Qiming shook his head solemnly: "A mere showpiece? Have you ever seen a showpiece manage to fight its way through a horde of zombies? The scouts reported that Li Fei cleared out at least five thousand zombies in the town that night, including a level 30 mutated tiger. A third-tier mutated beast, he killed it without a scratch."

Han Lei's expression changed: "A level 30 mutated beast?"

"Yes. And it wasn't a lucky kill, it was a crushing defeat." Wu Qiming put down his teacup and tapped his fingers lightly on the table twice. "Think about it, if it were our Ironstone Camp, how many lives would we have to lose to kill a level 30 mutated tiger? Ten? Twenty? Or more? But he took care of it all by himself, without even a scratch. Do you think someone like that can be explained away with just the words 'looks intimidating'?"

Han Lei was speechless.

"That's why I said it's always better to be cautious." Wu Qiming leaned back in his chair, his gaze deep. "If we go head-to-head with Li Fei, even if our Iron Stone Camp wins, we'll pay a heavy price. That's why I've gone to such lengths, planting spies and using others to do my dirty work, just to avoid a direct confrontation with him."

He paused, then suddenly seemed to remember something and said, "Oh right, call the butcher."

Han Lei's expression suddenly changed: "Brother Wu, that Butcher kid is extremely unpredictable. Would calling him along be—"

"That's exactly what I want—his instability." Wu Qiming's lips curled into a sinister smile. "You know Butcher's abilities; once he loses control, he's a heartless killing machine. As long as he enters Li Fei's camp and creates chaos, whether he lives or dies in the end, the New World Camp's defenses will be breached from within. That will fulfill his mission."

Han Lei was silent for two seconds, then a smile slowly spread across his face: "Hahaha, Brother Wu is brilliant! Letting the butcher be the troublemaker, even if he's ruined afterward, it won't matter. A brilliant plan!"

Wu Qiming stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the sky outside, which was gradually darkening.

"Go and get ready," he said. "Leave on time after dark."

As darkness fell.

The gates of the Ironstone Camp were wide open, and the torchlight illuminated the night in a fiery red glow.

The people standing in the line in front of the door were standing in neat rows.

At this moment, Chen Shan stood in the middle of the crowd, holding a machete in his hand, his palms sweating profusely.

He had been a member of the Ironstone Camp for less than two months.

Before the apocalypse, he was a car mechanic. After the apocalypse, he was lucky enough to awaken his physical enhancement ability and barely managed to reach level 15. Later, he was taken by a group of refugees and moved around to several small camps before finally settling in the Ironstone Camp.

It's called a camp, but it's really a place where you risk your life for food.

Wu Qiming feeds them, so they have to work for him. It's only natural, there's nothing to say about it.

But the scene tonight still made Chen Shan uneasy.

He roughly counted that the main force alone from the core area numbered over a hundred people. They were all wearing modified stab-proof vests, and unlike the refugees who carried machetes and steel pipes, they were armed with rifles, shotguns, and even two light machine guns. It was clear that they had brought all the wealth of the Ironstone Camp with them.

In addition to the more than two hundred people temporarily conscripted from the refugee area, and the group of dejected people from Lijiazhuang next door, the number of people mobilized tonight is at least four hundred.

Chen Shan had been in the Iron Stone Camp for two months and had never seen so many people mobilized from the camp. Could it be some life-or-death matter?

He couldn't help but nudge the person next to him with his elbow: "Old Zhou, what do you think we're going to do this time? Are we clearing out some large supply depot? Why are we sending so many people?"

The man next to him was Zhou Dahai, who had arrived six months earlier and was considered an old-timer at the Tieshi Camp.

Hearing Chen Shan ask this, Zhou Dahai tilted his head and glanced at him, a meaningful smile appearing on his lips: "You're too naive."

Chen Shan was taken aback and subconsciously asked, "What else can we do besides clearing out the supply depot?"

Zhou Dahai looked around to make sure no core members of the main team were paying attention before lowering his voice and leaning closer: "After I tell you, don't spread it around."

Chen Shan nodded repeatedly.

Zhou Dahai then whispered, "This time we're going to deal with people from other camps."

Chen Shan looked puzzled, his brows furrowing. "Deal with people from other camps? We're already in the apocalypse, we can't even kill all the zombies, why would we need to deal with humans?"

Zhou Dahai shook his head helplessly, a bitter smile on his face: "The most scarce resource in the apocalypse is resources. What can zombies have? Crystal cores? You can't eat those. The truly usable things—food, medicine, weapons, fuel—are only available to humans. And the fastest way to obtain resources is to rob them."

Chen Shan opened his mouth. He was a rough man and not good at lecturing, but something felt off. Surviving in the apocalypse was hard enough; why kill each other?

"But wouldn't this—" his voice was hoarse, "lead to the killing of many innocent people?"

Zhou Dahai glanced at him, as if he had heard some naive joke, and scoffed: "Come on, still innocent."

There are no innocent people in the apocalypse.

Chen Shan was stunned.

Zhou Dahai continued, "Think about it, who among those who have survived the apocalypse hasn't had blood on their hands? Who hasn't stepped on..."

"Did they survive on other people's corpses? You think the people in the opposite camp are innocent today, but if you went hungry for three days and saw the supplies in their warehouse, would you still think they're innocent?"

Chen Shan remained silent for a long time before finally saying in a low voice, "Can't we discuss this properly? It's a fight to the death."

"Discuss?" Zhou Dahai chuckled. "Do you know how many people are in that camp? More than two thousand!"

Why should they negotiate with a camp of only a thousand people when they have a large camp of two thousand? Do you think Manager Wu didn't consider talking to them?

They don't even consider you a threat. Besides—"

"I heard that Manager Wu had already planted an inside man in that camp for this operation. It was all planned out in advance; it wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision."

Chen Shan did not speak again.

He looked up at the refugees around him who had been conscripted just like him.

Several young people were talking in hushed tones, their voices surprisingly filled with a hint of eager excitement.

"I heard that camp has a lot of supplies, including several tons of rice."

"Not only that, I heard they also have an underground cold storage with frozen meat in it! Frozen meat! I haven't eaten meat for half a year."

"If I can get a case of canned food, this trip will have been worthwhile."

It was obvious that many people knew the mission was to plunder supplies.

But all they felt was excitement.

Hearing these words, Chen Shan felt even more choked up.

"Attention all!"

Just then, a whistle blew from ahead, interrupting Chen Shan's thoughts.

Wu Qiming walked onto the makeshift wooden platform, changed into a dark combat uniform, and had a pistol at his waist. He looked much more energetic than usual.

Several bodyguards stood behind him, including Han Lei.

"Listen up, everyone!" Wu Qiming's voice echoed through the night sky. "Tonight's target is a survivor camp in the south of the city. This camp is stockpiled with supplies—food, medicine, weapons, everything. If we take this place, our Ironstone Camp won't have to worry about food for the next six months!"

A cheer erupted from the crowd, especially from the main team members, whose excitement was impossible to hide.

"However," Wu Qiming gestured with his hand, speaking sternly, "this camp also has a certain level of defense. Therefore, tonight's operation requires everyone to follow orders and not act without authorization. Anyone who retreats in the face of battle or disrupts morale will be severely punished." He paused, his gaze sweeping over the men below, and said coldly, "Don't blame me for being ruthless."

"The people from Lijiazhuang will lead the charge, feigning an attack from the front to draw their attention. The main force will flank from the flanks, with..."

This is in accordance with your plan. The refugee team will be responsible for perimeter security and transporting supplies. Do you all understand?

"Understood!" came a sparse reply from the crowd.

"Did you understand?" Wu Qiming raised his voice.

"Understood!" This time the responses were much more uniform.

"Set off!"

At a command, the ranks began to move in an orderly fashion in one direction.

Chen Shan was assigned to the outer perimeter guard group, an arrangement that suited him perfectly.

At least he wouldn't have to be at the forefront, or directly confront people he didn't know but were about to be killed by his group.

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