"Brother Su, where are you taking the little girl?"
Watching Zhang Su and Su Xiaoya walk away, Wu Lue approached Zheng Xinyu curiously.
Zheng Xinyu pouted and said, "Heâs definitely taking her to see the burial site for the people from Kuanzhuang. Letâs go, letâs go, and get busy with our own stuff."
Yesterday, Zhang Su had learned from Ma Changshou where the people from Kuanzhuang were buried. Walking out from a damaged section of the military campâs wall revealed more than a dozen mounds of earth, looking rather desolate in the vast wilderness.
Among these people, only three or four were loyal to Lei Youliang. Most were forced by circumstances. If thereâs a chance to talk, only a few need to be dealt with.
"Theyâre all here."
Zhang Su lit a cigarette and stood aside, saying, "Originally, there was no animosity among everyone, and they could have become good brothers. Itâs just unfortunate that villains sowed discord, so I had them buried."
"Which one is Lei Youliang?"
Su Xiaoya asked coldly.
Zhang Su shrugged and blew out a smoke ring, "I donât know, I wasnât involved in this."
"Hmm..."
Su Xiaoya looked at the mounds of earth. She was lost in thought, not stepping forward nor crying. Perhaps her tears had run dry, and she stood there, dazed.
Zhang Su did not disturb her, scanning the surroundings to understand the area.
After about one or two minutes, Su Xiaoya sniffed and turned to Zhang Su, saying, "Iâve figured everything out. I donât hate you or the uncles and aunts of Celestial Horse Island. I wonât pay my respects because Lei Youliang is among them!"
"Itâs good that youâve figured it out. Letâs go, since weâre out here, letâs get to work. The deceased are gone; the living need to keep going."
Zhang Su nodded and patted Su Xiaoyaâs shoulder.
The heavy pat made Su Xiaoya tremble slightly. Following Zhang Su back to the camp, she asked in a low voice, "Was my sister really your girlfriend before?"
"Yes, it was over a year ago."
"So youâre my former brother-in-law, right?"
??
Zhang Su stopped, surprised, and looked at Su Xiaoya, "Is there really such a thing as former brother-in-law? Iâm telling you, donât randomly claim connections. Are you trying to extort me?"
Su Xiaoya nodded seriously, saying, "Anyway, youâre my former brother-in-law. Iâll stick with you from now on."
Zhang Su was speechless. He hadnât expected this little girlâs attitude to change so quickly and suddenly try to latch onto him.
"Itâs fine if you follow me; havenât all the big sisters and aunts from Kuanzhuang already followed me? But letâs drop the former brother-in-law thing. For now, I canât give you any special treatment; everyone is treated equally here. Canât you see that I have to work too?"
Su Xiaoyaâs eyes were visible, but the rest of her face was wrapped in a woolen scarf. She puffed out her chest and said, "I donât need special treatment; I just need you to acknowledge the former brother-in-law identity so no one dares to bully me in the camp. Thatâs enough!"
"Really, whoâs going to bully whom? Were you bullied before in Kuanzhuang?"
Zhang Su completely couldnât understand where Su Xiaoyaâs concerns were coming from.
Su Xiaoya pouted, tugging at the scarf, "Little girls are always the ones getting bullied everywhere, except my sister and Grandpa Huo helped me..."
"Well, you can rest assured that as long as youâre not loafing around, I can guarantee that no one will dare to bully you. Kuanzhuang doesnât live with us; remember I mentioned the Satellite Village before? Tomorrow, people will be sent to help your aunts clean up the village and settle in a village near Celestial Horse Island."
"I see... thatâs good. Anyway, youâre my former brother-in-law. If I get bullied, Iâll come find you for help!"
Su Xiaoya reiterated, clearly intent on latching onto him.
"To hell with the former..."
Zhang Suâs ears twitched as he heard a vehicle returning, knowing it was the group that went to scout for zombies. He casually waved his hand, "Suit yourself, but like I said, as long as you work hard, no one can bully you!"
Just as he finished speaking, he turned to see Lu Yubo driving closer.
"Brother Su, I went to the zombie factory and thereâs no problem there. I roughly checked outside the workshop and didnât find any venom zombies, but I canât guarantee anything; itâs too chaotic."
Lu Yubo drove up to Zhang Su and lowered the car window to say.
"Alright, weâll go check it out after finishing up here."
Zhang Su didnât have high hopes for Lu Yubo. This valiant warrior wasnât the right fit for reconnaissance missions; a rough assessment was good enough.
He relied more on Tan Huajun, hoping sheâd bring back some good news.
"What should I do?"
Following Zhang Su to a warehouse, Su Xiaoya saw everyone busily working and wanted to join in.
"How many zombies did you say youâve killed before?"
Zhang Su asked, hands on his hips.
"Kill zombies? I never said I killed zombies... havenât killed a single one."
Su Xiaoyaâs eyes dimmed. Kuanzhuang didnât require females to kill zombies, let alone a fifteen-sixteen-year-old girl.
However, it was also her lack of awareness. Mo Qianlan had been saved, and she trained diligently in combat. Now, even if she suddenly encountered a zombie, she could handle it without much difficulty. Even facing two zombies, she could calmly use obstacles to fight them off. Any more than that might be too much.
"Oh, in that case... go over there to collect equipment first."
Upon hearing that Su Xiaoya hadnât killed a zombie before, Zhang Suâs expression turned a bit odd. He took out a large bag from the car and handed it to her, pointing towards the wall, "See those corpses? Go and rummage through them, collect anything useful. Usually, itâs just cigarettes and mobile phones. Stay safe."
Su Xiaoya stood stunned, holding the bag. So this is her first job after joining Celestial Horse Island?
Without questioning or resisting, she weakly nodded and walked towards the area scattered with corpses. She realized her days of being pampered by her sister were over, and sheâd have to rely on her own efforts to live well.
With no tenderness, Zhang Su assigned Su Xiaoya her task and then grabbed buckets of diesel, heading towards the tank to start the fire for heating.
After busying himself for over half an hour with the help of two companions, they successfully filled the tankâs reservoir with diesel. Just as Zhang Su was about to climb into the tank to start it, Tan Huajun returned with her vehicle.
Her destination was the dry riverbed to the north. Since there were no obstacles blocking the view and it was relatively safe, Tan Huajun carefully scanned the area multiple times but did not find any venom zombies.
"Brother Su, Iâve strained my eyes from looking, but found nothing. Canât guarantee thereâs none there; those zombies might not come out for a while, so keep an eye out."
Tan Huajun smiled bitterly, rubbing her eyes. Staring at dense groups of corpses for half an hour was quite a strain.
Zhang Su, standing on the tank, smiled, "Got it, thanks for your hard work."
Only Qi Xiaoshuai hadnât returned yet; whether thereâd be good news depended on him.
"Master Zhang, are you going to start the tank now?"
Just as Zhang Su was about to crawl into the tank cockpit, Meng Changwei and some of his men walked up.
"So youâve got time to watch the excitement here?"
Zhang Su sat at the edge of the hatch, asking.
"Almost done over there. Never seen a tank in reality, so I thought Iâd come and take a look, haha."
Meng Changwei looked enviously at the tank, the fifty-plus-ton chunk of iron called the king of the land. Its deterrence and combat power were no joke. Against zombies, you wouldnât even need to fire the guns; just crush them. However, the reliance on energy was too strong.
"Then you all better step back, Iâve only got five minutes of experience driving a tank!"
"Brother Su, weâll step back too then..."
Lu Yubo and the others chuckled as they ran aside.
"A bunch of rascals..."
Seeing everyone scatter like animals, Zhang Su laughed and slipped into the cockpit.
Fuel in place, the tank started smoothly.
"Haha!"
Sitting in the cramped cockpit, Zhang Su felt a slight vibration and began to methodically manipulate the controls, gently pushing the tank forward.
A metallic clang sounded, the enormous vehicle surged forward ten centimeters, followed by the smooth operation of its tracks, smoothly ambling across the cement road of the camp.