You were supposed to hoard supplies, why the heck did you hoard zombies!

Zhang Ye gave Luo Xin, the foodie, a speechless glance before taking the walkie-talkie from Tian Miao's hand.

Zhou Xiong on the other side was clearly tense.

"Hello, is this Director Zhang?"

He was genuinely afraid.

It wasn't because of the crayfish in the reservoir, but because of what Luo Xin had just said.

Who in the safety zone didn't know that the company had three mistresses?

Luo Xin was one of them.

And Zhang Ye always granted their every request.

What if he really had to catch a few crayfish to please his woman?

Just the thought made Zhou Xiong break into a cold sweat, and his gaze unconsciously drifted back to the chaotic shore, where over a dozen figures were crying and shouting as they ran back.

While he was feeling anxious, Zhang Ye's voice finally came through from the other side.

"It's me."

"What's the situation?"

"Are you there right now?"

Although Zhou Xiong was merely a hydroelectric power station chief, his jurisdiction wasn't limited to the power station; it included the surrounding areas of the reservoir as well.

Several survivors had also been settled here, mainly those who had escaped from other areas of the industrial zone.

Upon hearing Zhang Ye's words, he immediately replied:

"Director Zhang, I'm on the highway on the south side of the reservoir right now."
Stay tuned for updates on empire

"Some people wanted to go fishing."

"And then—"

"And then they were eaten by the crayfish?"

Zhang Ye laughed in frustration, goddamn it, why did the company explicitly forbid getting close to the river?

Wasn't it precisely to avoid this kind of situation?

Now look what happened.

People were eaten by shrimps.

He initially wanted to ask what these man-eating crayfish looked like.

But then he thought, asking was pointless.

Better to go and see for himself.

"Wait for me there, I'll bring people over right away."

After saying that, Zhang Ye hung up the radio and was about to get up when he noticed the three women at the table all looking at him expectantly.

"Is it serious?"

"Do you need me to come with you?"

Ai Bing asked softly.

The other two women also stopped their tussling.

"Yeah, Ye Zi, what exactly happened?"

"We want to go too!"

Liu Qingqing hadn't finished speaking when Luo Xin already raised her hand with a giggly smile, "I'm full and hydrated, perfect for a walk to help digestion!"

Zhang Ye didn't refuse and agreed, leading the three out the door.

At the base entrance, the combat team was already in position.

The team was led by Ding Zhixiong.

Seeing Zhang Ye emerge, he quickly stuffed the cigarette butt back into his pocket and jogged over: "Director Zhang, we're all ready."

The man who once knelt on the ground begging for his life in order to survive had now become resolute and indifferent.

He only showed a smile when he saw Zhang Ye and Xu Lin.

The Combat Department now oversaw two combat teams, each with forty people, further divided into two squads.

He was one of the two team leaders, primarily responsible for extermination and escort missions.

Seeing Zhang Ye nod, Ding Zhixiong immediately opened the car door.

The convoy soon headed to the fourth district.

Destination, the hydroelectric power station.

There weren't many survivors in District Four.

Besides those who worked as technicians in the factories, the rest made their living by scavenging for scrap.

The area was dotted with abandoned factories and warehouses with tightly shut doors.

Although most of the materials had been sealed off or taken away by the company, there were still plenty of useful things left, including some food and metals that could be reprocessed.

They survived by selling these items to the company in exchange for supplies.

But what they got in return was still too little.

Especially for those with families, failing to find food or materials to sell meant watching their loved ones go hungry.

So, these people soon turned their attention to areas that companies had strictly forbidden to enter.

The reservoir's surroundings were one such place.

Their desires swelled at the thought of the succulent fish and shrimp.

Thus, the scavengers who roamed the abandoned factory districts like stray dogs tacitly agreed to sneak down to the riverbank while Zhou Xiong was away.

By the time Zhang Ye finally arrived, the bodies on the shore had almost been devoured.

"Director Zhang, you finally came."

"Those people..."

Zhou Xiong looked tense, and he suddenly stopped talking.

He was pointing in a direction where several gray-green creatures were gnawing on the remaining corpses, one of them seemingly attempting to drag a body into the water.

The team members who had just gotten off the vehicle immediately raised their rifles.

These were automatic rifles replicated from the firearm designs of Ross Country to the north half a month ago by the arms factory, using the company's standard large-caliber rifle ammunition.

Zhou Hongbing named it the KA assault rifle.

Its simple construction ensured the gun's adaptability and maintainability to the greatest extent.

The only downside was that it was prone to jamming.

Due to the lack of professional equipment, the company's current ammunition was mainly hand-rolled by zombies in combination with lathes, resulting in small or large discrepancies in every bullet's parameters.

The direct consequence was that firearms using these bullets would occasionally jam or misfire.

And this problem could not be resolved in the short term.

Even so, compared to ordinary close combat weapons, the automatic rifle that could pour out a large volume of fire in a short time remained the preferred choice for the company's fighters.

Without an order from Zhang Ye, the battle had already begun.

Under the lead of Ding Zhixiong, ten combat team members quickly approached about fifty meters from the riverbank along a narrow path.

This was the KA rifle's maximum range for accuracy.

Ratatat—

The muzzle spat flames.

The first five members who opened fire quickly emptied their clips.

Hundreds of bullets whistled out amidst the billowing white smoke, raining down on the creatures' bodies with sharp impacts but leaving no marks that could be considered wounds.

Instead, one of the creatures suddenly dropped the corpse it was munching on and crawled towards them.

It moved fast, and in less than ten seconds, it had rocked its massive body to be right in front of the team members who were reloading.

"Squeak—"

A shrill screech pierced the air.

The creature raised its upper body, revealing a face as terrifying as that of an alien.

"Retreat!"

"Retreat quickly!"

"What are you doing standing there?"

While shouting, Ding Zhixiong ran toward the teammate who was frozen in place, eventually using the momentum of his sprint to knock him down onto the sandy ground beside them.

At the same time, a fierce gust of wind whizzed past their ears!

Thump!

Something heavy hit the ground!

Without a word, Ding Zhixiong pulled out his revolver, turned around, and fired, hitting the creature's head armor, which glinted with a metallic sheen!

"Damn, it's that hard?"

He cursed, but his hand had already pulled the trigger again, and several more bullets struck the creature's head.

But only a few white marks were left on it.