Cannon fodder in the Interstellar

Unlike the hopeful mood of the ordinary people at B City Base, the high-ranking officials of the B City Base military had been weighed down by a heavy concern since the snow began to melt, which made it hard for them to rest or eat.

As the snow started to melt, the zombies that had been hiding in the city buildings throughout the long winter began to reappear.

Even though the zombies had been holed up inside the buildings, Hebrew Adam’s satellites could still detect their numbers within.

Over the past few months, it was clear that the number of zombies in the buildings had gradually decreased. But as soon as the snow started melting, it was revealed that in every city, without exception, only about a third of the original number of zombies remained.

While this represented a sharp reduction of two-thirds, each city still contained several hundred thousand zombies.

However, the satellite could only scan a rough estimate of the zombie population within the buildings and couldn’t provide detailed images of their appearances.

After examining the satellite images, the high-ranking military officials of the B City Base and the members of the Xingtian Battle Team realized that these newly emerging zombies were completely different from the ones they had encountered before the winter.

Previously, zombies had resembled traditional “undead” creatures, with decaying skin, stiff limbs, and slow movements. They were much slower than humans, and their attacks were sluggish. A bullet to the forehead would easily take them down.

During that time, people could generally avoid zombies unless they were surrounded. The real threat was from mutated animals. Before the big winter, the leading cause of death for humans going out to collect supplies was encountering mutated animals.

Now, the zombies were evolving. The satellite images clearly showed that these newly reappeared zombies had undergone several rounds of mutation. They were more like humanoid mutants than the sluggish creatures from before. Their arms and legs had become disproportionately long, and their faces, especially their mouths and eyes, were more pronounced.

The most striking feature was their mouths, which were so large that they almost took up a third of their faces, protruding slightly forward to reveal two rows of sharp, jagged teeth. They resembled mutated apes but were far more terrifying.

After reviewing the satellite images, the high-ranking officials of the B City Base military and the two hundred soldiers of the Xingtian Battle Team were all deeply concerned. The members of the Xingtian Battle Team quietly felt relieved that they had agreed to join the base’s military months earlier.

Based on the satellite images showing the direction of the zombies’ movement, it was clear that no survivor base could avoid a zombie siege.

As for their B City survivor base, not only had they made preparations early on, but they also developed special training methods and serums through a unique organization, allowing their people to grow stronger faster. Other bases certainly didn’t have such benefits.

Although they had lost the power to freely form mercenary groups, they believed that survival was the most important thing. They trusted that once the crisis was over, their skills would enable them to thrive and advance.

“These zombies have started moving out of the cities. Judging by their direction, they’re all heading toward the nearest human survivor bases. At their current speed, they should reach the B City base in about twenty days,” Lin Kexin said heavily.

Lin Kexin had not only become the head of the intelligence department in the base’s military but also the head of the military’s manufacturing department.

Due to her special status, Hebrew Adam had granted her the authority to control the satellites, giving her the ability to monitor the entire Earth using the satellite network.

The Tang knives created by the military’s manufacturing department were also crafted under Lin Kexin’s guidance on how to fuse and forge them, making them several dozen times sharper and more durable than the previous weapons they had used.

Although the zombie numbers had significantly reduced in each city, the combined total from surrounding cities and towns still numbered in the millions.

Their B City base only had a population of around 200,000. If such a vast number of zombies surrounded the city, it would be extremely dangerous.

“We cannot sit back and wait for these zombies to surround us. Starting tomorrow, we will split into four groups and proactively eliminate zombies to reduce their numbers as much as possible,” Lin Ruihai said.

“Each group will have two instructors to support you. When you collect the crystal cores, you must give 20% of them as payment to the instructors,” Lin Ruihai said in conclusion. “According to the information provided by the instructors, Minister Lin is currently researching how to use the energy from the crystal cores to create various firearms and machines. Therefore, the crystal cores can be exchanged for supplies, and the exchange ratio will be provided later.”

The members of the Xingtian Battle Team had initially felt uncertain due to the high levels and large numbers of zombies. However, when they heard that there would be two instructors leading each group, they immediately felt much more at ease.

Over the past few months, the Xingtian Battle Team members had all been trained by the instructors, so their respect for the instructors’ strength had only deepened. With such skilled experts in charge and the zombie virus antidote now available, they felt that, as long as they remained cautious, their lives would be safe.

As for the 20% reward, the Xingtian Battle Team members thought that the instructors were only charging a “friendship price.”

After all, the techniques taught by the instructors were free, and the training sessions were free as well. Without them, the Xingtian Battle Team members would not have the strength they had now, and would have barely been able to protect themselves.

The next day, when they set out, the Xingtian Battle Team members were given bounty tasks from the instructors. They could exchange the crystal cores from the zombies’ brains for nutritional supplements.

The food provided by the base was barely enough to satisfy hunger. For people like them, it only lasted about two hours before they were hungry again, so they definitely needed to take on some tasks to earn points to exchange for food and daily necessities.

As a result, they made sure to clear all the snow around the base, preventing it from piling up to five or six meters deep and potentially burying the base.

Many of them had already experienced the benefits of the nutritional supplements. Not only did they provide timely nutrition and restore stamina, but they were also easy to carry, making them very convenient for tasks outside the base. Therefore, many people were very interested in them.

The next morning, the Xingtian Battle Team members split into four groups. After leaving the base, they headed in four different directions.

The temperature had risen rapidly, and the melting snow had caused flooding. From the satellite images, it was clear that many of the lower-lying big cities were still submerged in floodwaters. Fortunately, there were no people left in these cities now.

The B City base was located on a hillside, so neither the heavy five-day rain before the winter solstice nor the flooding caused by the melting snow had affected the base’s interior.

The members of the Xingtian Battle Team had driven a long way before they realized that the road was severely damaged due to the flooding. Fortunately, they were driving military vehicles; otherwise, they wouldn’t have been able to get through in some areas.

When they reached a place where they couldn’t get through, the Xingtian Battle Team members were stunned, watching as their two accompanying instructors effortlessly lifted the wrecked cars blocking the road—one from the front and one from the back—and tossed them aside. They even had the energy to kick mutated rats, which had suddenly sprung out from behind the wreckage, into meat paste with a single blow.

Dozens of third-tier mutated rats, and before the Xingtian Battle Team members could even react, the instructors had already dealt with them. The team members silently lowered their weapons, not knowing what to say.

This atmosphere continued until they encountered a horde of zombies.