Cannon fodder in the Interstellar

Upon getting a closer look at the zombies, everyone was shocked to find them even more terrifying than they had appeared in the satellite images. They were running several times faster than before, and sharp claws had grown on their hands, looking capable of tearing through human skin. Their massive, blood-filled mouths were even more horrifying—if a person were to be bitten by their sharp backward teeth, large chunks of flesh would surely be torn off.

The Xingtian Battle Team members first tried shooting the zombies, but, as expected, the bullets couldn’t even penetrate their skin, rendering the guns ineffective. It was nothing like before the long winter, when shooting a zombie in the forehead would result in a quick kill.

However, most of the Xingtian Battle Team members had experience fighting zombies and mutated animals. They had no difficulty killing fourth-tier mutated animals, so they weren’t hesitant when facing fourth-tier mutated zombies.

The three team leaders led by example, wielding large swords to engage the zombies, with the others following suit.

Before the long winter, zombies were much weaker in comparison to mutated animals of the same tier, mainly because their bodies were too stiff. But now, that weakness was gone, and the situation had reversed. The attack power of fourth-tier zombies was now nearly as strong as that of fifth-tier mutated animals.

Based on the scale observed from the satellite images, the base predicted that the zombies they would face now were most likely at least third-tier, with fourth-tier being the most common, and there should be a significant number of fifth-tier zombies, with sixth-tier ones being the highest.

To their surprise, the zombie horde’s level was lower than expected. Although most were fourth-tier, and a few were third-tier, only an occasional fifth-tier zombie appeared, and they hadn’t seen any sixth-tier ones.

Of course, with humanity’s current strength, even hundreds of people working together would probably stand no chance against a sixth-tier zombie. The apocalypse strategy articles had noted that any base surrounded by zombies would fall if a sixth-tier zombie appeared, as the walls would soon be breached.

Half a year later, when the Xingtian Battle Team faced zombies again, they found themselves much stronger than they had anticipated. While the fourth-tier zombies were more powerful than expected, they could still handle them. Even fifth-tier zombies could be dealt with by three or five team members working together.

The two instructors stood by, watching over the battle, but they didn’t need to intervene. There weren’t enough zombies to warrant their participation—the Xingtian Battle Team members could easily handle the ones they encountered.

While the Xingtian Battle Team members and the base’s Special Forces alternated in groups to clear out zombies, the ordinary survivors of the B City base also began to take action.

The B City survivor base was built around the Lishan Resort and the B City Military Training Base, expanding up the mountain and along the hillside. The camp was primarily located on the slope from the foot of the mountain to halfway up.

The land at the foot of the mountain had originally been farmland. After the rainy season floods six months ago and the subsequent melting of the snow, the land had accumulated a thick layer of fertile sediment. However, due to the higher elevation of the area, while the lower-lying regions were still submerged in floodwaters, the floodwaters had receded here two or three days ago.

As a result of the two floods, the once fertile farmland now had a thick layer of rich, fertile soil. The land, still moist from the receding floodwaters, was perfect for farming.

To prevent mutated animals and zombies from attacking, the base had already reinforced the moat around the entrance. The base had deepened and widened the trenches, and on the left side of the base, which was unsuitable for farming due to scattered rocks, a large pond had been dug to provide irrigation for the crops for an extended period.

The base’s guard team spent two days clearing out zombies and mutated animals within a five-kilometer radius of the base, and they also set up defensive lines around the perimeter.

With these safety measures in place, the ordinary people in the base felt secure enough to leave. They began their busy farming lives, getting up early and returning late.

The apocalyptic days, where survival was uncertain, had stripped away most of the survivors’ fragility. Now, having work, earning income, and getting food made them feel lucky, and very few people were lazy.

The base had strict rules: anyone caught slacking off or only working to collect labor points would be expelled from the system. If someone didn’t work and couldn’t earn labor points, they wouldn’t share in the harvest when food became plentiful. No labor points meant no food, which was essentially a death sentence. Who would dare to be lazy?

Over the past few months, Lin Ruihai and his base military forces had established a strong and fair leadership image among the survivors. As a result, the vast majority of people followed the leadership of the base leaders and the military without question.

Thanks to the collective training during the long winter and the absence of extreme cold or hunger, the survivors of B City had managed to live through a relatively stable period.

Now, almost everyone had their own tasks to do, and the base had the capability to provide them with a stable life. The survivors who had endured the brutal apocalypse deeply cherished this way of life and were willing to work hard to maintain it.

As a result, B City base was thriving, unlike other bases that had experienced a harsh winter with no preparation. Not only did the vulnerable groups in those bases almost all die, but even the survivors who managed to live were struggling with severe shortages of clothing and food.

The end of the long winter took just ten days, from south to north, and soon all the snow across China had melted.

After enduring the harsh winter, food shortages became a critical issue for all bases. As a result, capable survivors from all bases eagerly ventured out to find supplies.

However, unprepared, many of them suffered heavy losses. It wasn’t until then that they realized the zombies had undergone significant evolution. Their combat power had now far surpassed that of humans.

What they didn’t know was that, in fact, these zombie groups had already been significantly weakened.

A month before the end of the long winter, Hebrew Adam, Ruo Manni, Hua Deli, and Mina-Olli had already left the B City base.

The four of them, two couples, left the base and went in opposite directions. They each drove a “camper van” and, using satellite guidance, systematically eliminated all zombies and mutated animals above level six. They also cleared out a portion of the more numerous level-five creatures, ensuring that the strongest zombies in the horde were dealt with.

For Ruo Manni and the others, this strategy not only allowed them to collect high-quality crystal cores, but also helped avoid the possibility of human survivors being wiped out by high-level zombies before they had the strength to fight back.

However, the most important reason for this was that for the aliens to “raise” zombies, they needed crystal cores above level six to make a profit.

Thus, they were likely waiting for most of the zombies to evolve to level six or higher before they would come from the distant stars to “harvest” them. Otherwise, the zombies wouldn’t provide enough “fuel” for their trip.

As long as there were no large numbers of level-six zombies, the aliens wouldn’t come.

Of course, their actions could only deceive for a time, because things always follow a certain pattern in their development. Even if slow, things could never come to a complete standstill.

In time, the aliens would definitely notice something unusual, and when that happens, they would surely come to “deal with it.”

However, this interference should be enough to delay their arrival, giving humanity on Earth a time window to develop.

In two months’ time, with the abilities of Hebrew Adam, Ruo Manni, Hua Deli, and Mina-Olli, they had already made a complete circuit around the Earth, killing all the high-level zombies.

Yes, the entire Earth.