Chapter 235: Bad news
"You haven't been here for long. After Old Frank took charge of construction, I made you responsible for the base defense. Even with the issue of a thousand zombies looming over us, you managed to maintain order and keep things proper, it proves that you're still capable."
After hearing Zhang Xiao Qiang's praise, Zhang Huai An became excited. His eyes were bright and emotional, the kind that was willing to die for their master.
"But, your work is hardly done, you have to maintain strict vigilance over the mood below. I do not want everyone to fly into a panic if a few zombies were to appear. You'll have to come up with plans on what to do if the zombies besiege us, I want to see the citizens having unity to deal with the problem together."
Zhang Huai An turned solemn, he looked at Zhang Xiao Qiang and nodded his head. Following that, Zhang Xiao Qiang turned to Three.
"I've already told you about your task, just doing it will be considered a success, other than that…." Zhang Xiao Qiang turned to He Wen Bin, "From now on, ammunition for the Combat Team will be unrestrictedly supplied, Heavy Weapons must have a 3 times the ammunition prepared on hand and surveillance vehicles will have as many as they can store."
When He Wen Bin nodded, Zhang Xiao Qiang turned to Three, "Tell all the scouts to count and carry all their ammunition with them. When they return, transfer the ammunition back. If anyone has a missing bullet, punish them."
This implementation would prevent members from hiding ammunition. In truth, Zhang Xiao Qiang wanted them to kill any zombies they saw, he was afraid that the scouts turn lazy, and thus gave that order.
"Dispatch all the Combat Team Members to go out on surveillance, I want you to ensure that there are absolutely no lurking zombies within the perimeter of a 20km region from us. Aside from that, ensure that there are no hordes in a 30km region, and if possible, have some scouts to go near J City and check on the situation there."
After the adjournment of the meeting, everyone moved in quick steps and got busy.
On the way back to the villa, the girls that sent food for the workers were seen pushing the empty carts back to the kitchen. Zhang Xiao Qiang then realized that he had not had food. He quickened his pace toward the kitchen. No matter what, eating was the most important.
Upon entering the kitchen, he saw Yang Ke'er holding the dirty and small young boy by his throat. Yang Ke'er was shoving him to the point that his eye whites were showing while screaming, "Quick, spit it out, quickly, are you spitting it out…."
Zhang Xiao Qiang watched the bizarre scene, unsure of what Yang Ke'er was doing. But he knew that if he did not step in, the young boy would definitely die.
Yang Ke'er looked adorable and gentle, but she wielded strength far stronger than a bull. Seeing that the boy was about to faint, Zhang Xiao Qiang immediately stepped forward and pulled them apart. He carried the boy in his arms and massaged his neck. He shouted at Yang Ke'er, "Brat, why are you choking him! Didn't you see that he was already fainting?!"
Yang Ke'er did not reply. After catching his breath, the little boy in Zhang Xiao Qiang's embrace smacked Zhang Xiao Qiang's hands and pulled himself out. He turned and ran towards the door but was pulled back by Yang Ke'er. The little boy struggled and clawed but Yang Ke'er was too strong. In the blink of the eye, he was back in her arms.
Yang Ke'er grabbed his neck and continued to shake him and repeated, "Spit it out"
Zhang Xiao Qiang was completely baffled by the two of them, but when he saw how serious Yang Ke'er was, he knew that they were not playing.
"Yang Ke'er, what's going on, exactly? Tell me…."
Yang Ke'er held onto the boy's collar and pointed to an empty teacup on the table, "He drank the poisonous '84' disinfectant that I had prepared to sterilize my mace…"
"Why were you so careless and allowed him to drink it?" Zhang Xiao Qiang immediately entered the kitchen and found a chopstick with the intention of gagging to incite the little boy to vomit.
"Just when I placed it on the table and turned, he rushed in asking for water. When he saw the cup, he took it to drink." Yang Ke'er felt wronged and tried to explain herself. Zhang Xiao Qiang suddenly stopped.
He threw away the chopsticks and picked up the teacup and took a whiff of it. There was no pungent smell.
"Ke'er, where did you find this bottle of '84'?" Zhang Xiao Qiang became anxious and he shouted at Yang Ke'er.
(TN: If no one can remember what this bottle is, check out chapter 144 :))
Yang Ke'er was stunned and became afraid of Zhang Xiao Qiang's roar. She hesitated, "Isn't it the bottle from your bag…"
Yang Ke'er's words verified the thought that terrified Zhang Xiao Qiang. His eyes looked around frantically. Finally, he saw the bottle with a piece of paper stuck onto it with the words "84 Disinfectant, do not drink" in the rubbish bin.
"Spit it out, you better spit it out for me, fu-…ck, even if I sold you, you can never repay me…"
Zhang Xiao Qiang did the exact thing that Yang Ke'er did. The young boy was once again shoved to the point of showing his eye whites. This time, it was Yang Ke'er that erupted in rage and pulled Zhang Xiao Qiang away, "Can you be gentler? Wait for him to spit it out before you kill him…"
Zhang Xiao Qiang grabbed a red stool weakly and looked at Yang Ke'er, "Don't bother. It isn't poison, he won't die, I'm the one dying, I'm dying from the ill fortune…"
Time: Next day afternoon. Location: At the top of the bamboo hill. People: Zhang Xiao Qiang, Yang Ke'er, Shangguan Qiao Yun, Yuan Yi, Xu Meng Zhu and the dirty boy that constantly scratched his butt.
The protagonist of the day was the boy that had never cleaned his face. Zhang Xiao Qiang looked at the dirty boy with a fiery gaze. Yang Ke'er and Yuan Yi looked at the almost completed perimeter wall in the distance and watched the people rushing about. Shangguan Qiao Yun played with her Type-85 SR that had no scope.
Zhang Xiao Qiang's constant advise finally made Shangguan Qiao Yun give up on the Garand Rifle. The reason for her change in rifle was simple, the Type-85 SR could load up to 10 bullets, two more than the Garand Rifle. The 4kg weapon was not cumbersome as well, and more importantly, it utilized HMG bullets.
HMG bullets were capable of penetrating through armor from a distance of 800m, it could effectively kill enemies and damage equipment in battle, which was a capability the Garand Rifle did not have.
After staying in the room to research and study medicine for so long, Xu Meng Zhu and Zhang Xiao Qiang finally met again. This time, Xu Meng Zhu was no longer dirty like before, clean and whiter due to hiding from the sun, she stood by Zhang Xiao Qiang's side and watched her son with worry.
Zhang Xiao Qiang felt that Xu Meng Zhu had failed as a mother. After following Zhang Xiao Qiang to the base, she no longer cared for her own child. It was fine if a child played for an entire day and got dirty, but as a mother, how could she not know how to clean her own child? Aside from that, Zhang Xiao Qiang felt that the child was strange, he had never heard the boy speak before, or even make a sound.
The boy that was said to be named 'Miao Miao' looked at Zhang Xiao Qiang, unaware of what was going on. After drinking the water the previous day, the man who always tolerated him had completely changed into a man filled with rage? Furthermore, after a long dump in the morning and stopping the leak with much difficulty, Zhang Xiao Qiang instantly pulled him and his mother out to the fields. What did the crazy man want?
Zhang Xiao Qiang looked at him, then at the coiled path, "Use your fastest speed to run down and come back up, go go…"
The boy looked at Xu Meng Zhu. Seeing his mother nodding her head, he started running.
By the time the boy came back gasping for breath, Zhang Xiao Qiang knew that he was not an Agility-type Gen-Omega Human.
Zhang Xiao Qiang took Yang Ke'er's mace and placed it in front of the boy, "Pick it up…"
The little boy looked at the steel mace and scratched his head. He looked at Yang Ke'er for her opinion. The last time he asked her for the mace, she beat him up instead.
Yang Ke'er nodded her head nonchalantly, she wanted to gain clarity on what Zhang Xiao Qiang was trying to do.
The little boy lifted the mace that was almost 50kg up. Seeing how the boy was able to wield the mace with two hands, Zhang Xiao Qiang became slightly excited. "Try it with one hand?"
The boy let go of a hand. In a few seconds, his face turned red.
BOOM!
The boy dropped the mace on the ground and plopped onto the floor and gasped for breath.
Zhang Xiao Qiang looked at the mace that was swaying side to side, disappointed. The boy's strength was substantially stronger than an ordinary mature man but was far inferior to Yang Ke'er. There was not even a need to mention Yang Ke'er, Zhang Xiao Qiang himself could wield the mace with one hand and spin a few rounds with it.
The group headed down the hill. While walking, Zhang Xiao Qiang thought about the issue. "Could it be that the rainwater has an expiration date?" Upon thinking about that, Zhang Xiao Qiang shook his head, he did not dare to continue thinking about it, he still had 5kg worth kept to pass down for generations.
Having received bad news all day, Zhang Xiao Qiang felt extremely depressed. Coincidentally, a land rover drove right in front of him. Without thinking, Zhang Xiao Qiang stopped the vehicle.
This land rover had been modified by Wang Le and brought over. The car roof had a machine gun installed onto it along with a metal board that acted as a shield that protected the Type-53 HMG. The car body was strengthened, the glass windows had steel wiring welded over them, the wheels were changed for large tires and high chassis. This scout vehicle could fit four people, which also meant that the vehicle could have 2 more people.
Zhang Xiao Qiang opened the car door and sat inside. When he noticed Shangguan Qiao Yun was about to join him, he spoke up. "I'm going out to take a breather, don't wander too far off, just stay in the base…"
Give me another term for Gen-Omega Human if guys want. The Chinese term is literally New Humans. Inhumans?
TN: Just a note, Yang Ke'er's mace isn't the normal mace…. A Lang Ya Bang is an ancient Chinese Weapon, https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%8B%BC%E7%89%99%E6%A3%92