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

"I've heard of you."

Heard of him?

Was his fame really that great?

On the way here, Peng Yue had already become as awestruck as the two people beside him at what he saw in the secure zone.

This left Zhang Ye, who was internally calculating how to elevate his own status, suddenly at a loss for words.

Was this not too perceptive?

Peng Yue at this moment, compared to the man from the night before, seemed like a completely different person; his entire face was filled with reverence for Zhang Ye and the company.

And the most important reason for this change was everything he had seen on his way here.

The high walls and electric fences almost completely enclosing the secure zone.

And the guards and security personnel visible everywhere.

All of them full of vigor.

Compared to the haggard and starving wanderers, they clearly had been eating better, probably never even having experienced hunger.

And this was indeed the most direct indicator of the strength of a power nowadays.

As for the weapons in their hands—

Just the thought of it seemed incredible to Peng Yue.

In the outskirts of Jiangbei District, any survivor with a gun was considered to have decent strength, even if it was just an old hunting rifle or a homemade gun from a decade or two ago.

But what about these people?

He had seen it very clearly.

Those guards and security personnel weren't holding old hunting rifles!

They were assault rifles!

Although they were clearly imitations, they weren't something just anyone could make. At least, as far as Peng Yue knew about Jiangbei District, it didn't seem like any survivor group could manufacture automatic rifles.

Making hunting rifles and shotguns, on the other hand, was common.

Because the craftsmanship was relatively simple.

As long as they could fire, it was good enough.

As for the survivors inside the safety zone...

When Peng Yue arrived, he roughly counted the vehicles gathering near the exit; there were seven or eight, mostly pickups or off-road vehicles of some sort.

Each vehicle had at least three or four people, with some carrying six or seven, all together there must have been fifty or sixty people.

And that was just at one of the exits.

Who knew how many exits there were?

In addition to these outbound survivors, he also saw clothes and strips of fabric laid out to dry on several nearby buildings.

Although clothes couldn't be washed, airing them out could remove some of the smell.

People did the same in the convoy's compound.

Judging by those miscellaneous items hung out to dry, it was clear that some buildings were inhabited, and the number of residents was by no means small.

Adding in those patrolling guards and checkpoint security at each entrance...

The secure zone had to have hundreds of survivors, at the very least.

People, guns, factories, and enough supplies to support the lives of so many survivors.

Was there anything wrong with bowing down to such a powerful force?

After exchanging a few simple greetings, Peng Yue carefully settled himself on the soft sofa, his stiff body instantly enveloped by a sense of comfort.

He couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief and glanced a few more times at the snacks laid out on the table, inwardly cursing:

Damn, it really is true that comparisons are odious!

He thought he had it pretty good already.

While others went hungry every now and then, he and his brothers never really went without food.

Even at the toughest times for the convoy, they still had a bag of potatoes to stave off hunger.

On regular days, they alternated between eating wheat flour and rice.

But not everyone was afforded such conditions.

Those who were better off managed to eat a full meal every day, eating whatever was available.

In good times, even they might have access to rice and wheat flour.

But in bad times, there was no difference between them and dogs, depending entirely on what could be found in the trash.

As for the things Zhang Ye had laid out on the coffee table at this moment—

Well.

Peng Yue couldn't even remember the last time he had had such things.

It seemed to have been right after the disaster struck, when he and his brothers had robbed a convenience store, killing the owner turned zombie with a hammer, and carried out several boxes of snacks.

And soon, another thing was placed on the coffee table in front of Peng Yue.

Beer. Experience tales at My Virtual Library Empire

His eyes jumped.

It seemed he could already see the white mist rising from it.

Zhang Ye suppressed the urge to let his smile reach his ears and said to him, "It's hot today, want some?"

At the moment, the temperature outside had already dropped to the teens.

But does that matter?

Not really.

When you have wealth, isn't it just for showing off?

Besides, he was so wealthy!

Not only that, Zhang Ye even deliberately turned on the TV in front of him, but the screen was blank, as all the TV stations had long lost their signals.

With a crisp notification sound, the game console light next to it also lit up.

The huge TV, the size of half a wall, instantly had an image.

He grabbed a controller and tossed it over.

"Wanna play for a bit?"

Peng Yue didn't play video games.

He was almost twenty years older than Zhang Ye.

But at this moment, the lit-up TV and the somewhat noisy music suddenly had an inexplicable new allure, enticing him to take the controller as if possessed.

Happy times flew by in an instant.

Lunchtime arrived.

At the dining table, Peng Yue finally met those legendary three women who had started from scratch with Zhang Ye, fighting the world barehanded.

Among them were both plump and slender beauties, each one indeed beautiful in both figure and face.

Only, the number seemed somewhat small.

In his view, with Zhang Ye's current power, even if there weren't three thousand beauties, it was definitely impossible for there to be only three women.

After all, even in Peng Yue's own two-story building, there were four women sleeping.

All of them were his spoils of war.

But of course, this wasn't something Peng Yue should be concerned with.

Rather than women, he was more interested in the table full of exquisite dishes before him.

"Slurp slurp..."

"Gulp gulp..."

After getting Zhang Ye's permission, Peng Yue immediately started wolfing down his food, bowl in hand, looking no different from other survivors who had fled to the safe zones.

Big Beard and Hou Shubin, watching from the side, also seemed to have trouble resisting.

"What are you two looking at?"

"Eat up, this is the reward you deserve."

Upon hearing this, the two no longer held back and hurriedly picked up their bowls to join the feasting ranks.

Zhang Ye, however, did not move his chopsticks, just watching with relish.

The guests had almost been taken care of.

It was time to talk business.

Indeed, a few minutes later, Peng Yue suddenly stopped eating and looked up at Zhang Ye.

He grinned, seeming a little embarrassed.

"Made Director Zhang laugh."

"It's just been too long since I've had a proper meal."

"There are some things I'd like to talk about, not sure if it's convenient now or should we move to another location?"

As Peng Yue spoke, his gaze flitted across the three women as well as Big Beard and Hou Shubin, the meaning in his eyes very obvious.

Big Beard and Hou Shubin, who were enjoying their meal, fell silent upon hearing this, thanked Director Zhang, and then headed out to the courtyard.

But the three women remained seated in their spots, not budging an inch.

They had no intention of leaving, their expressions quite peculiar.

Looking at him with disdain.

This Mr. Peng obviously treated these three women as mere ornaments.

Yet Zhang Ye's response was as reassuring as ever, making them feel comforted.

"Just speak your mind."

"I'm the kind of person who hates beating around the bush."

"These three are not just my women, they are also in charge of the company's logistics, energy, and engineering departments, respectively."