Seeing Shen Ruihui so excited, Xiao Fan's depressed mood these past few days also cheered up.
"Tell me, what important discoveries do you have?"
"It's like this, Commander. Over the past few days I scouted three places total, including the Kaoshan Farm headquarters, Baihua Town, and Qingyang County Town. I didn't go to Sishui County because I had to come back and report."
"Go on, I'm listening."
"There are a large number of building materials at Kaoshan Farm, not many zombies, we could send people to gather them."
"Good news. What else?"
"Baihua Town has abundant timber resources, and there's a lumber yard there too. The weather is nice and cool now, the timber is dry, we could also haul it back, but there are slightly more zombies there, I suggest sending two platoons."
"Good, I've noted down these two pieces of news. Now go issue the orders...."
"Wait Commander, I haven't told you the best news yet!"
"Then go ahead."
"In Qingyang County Town I discovered a building materials market, inside there's practically an endless amount of bricks, steel bars, wire, cement, marble, etc. If we bring it all back, it would basically solve our city wall construction issues."
"Is that so! You actually found a building materials market!" Xiao Fan's eyes lit up too, this really was good news.
"Of course, not only did I find the building materials market, I also discovered a jewelry store!"
Xiao Fan was stunned for a moment, then extremely excited.
What he needed most was gold and silver, usually collected off of zombie bodies.
But the efficiency of this method wasn't high, after all zombies were also getting stronger, not so easy to deal with.
And at the very least over half of the zombies didn't have any jewelry on them.
He had been thinking about taking over a jewelry store, but jewelry stores were all located in the prosperous downtown areas of cities, his capabilities weren't enough to attack a city yet. Now it seemed this opportunity had finally arrived.
Suppressing his excitement, he confirmed with Shen Ruihui: "Are you certain we can take the jewelry store without alerting the zombies in Qingyang County Town?"
"Don't worry Commander, there's a river flowing through Qingyang County Town that splits the town into two. Over half the zombies are on the other side. I saw that the area near the jewelry store doesn't have too many zombies either, with our current capabilities if we're steady and careful, we still have hope of taking it over in a few days time."
"Won't the zombies on the other side of the river come over via the bridge?"
"Normally they would, but the bridge there was blown up by someone, I don't know who did it either. Most of the zombies are on the other bank, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to find the jewelry store."
Hearing Shen Ruihui's report, Xiao Fan finally felt reassured.
Xiao Fan didn't know if zombies could drown, but he knew zombies didn't like water.
When it rained, zombies would lose their hearing, sense of smell, and most of their vision. The zombies he had seen also never took the initiative to enter water.
Since there was a river blocking them, this operation was feasible.
"Good, the news you've brought back is very timely. Since that's the case, you can take over as leader of the guard platoon for now."
"Thank you Commander!"
In his delight, Xiao Fan directly chose to fill the guard platoon to capacity, a total of thirty people.
The three newly produced scouts assumed the role of squad leaders, and Shen Ruihui was directly promoted to platoon leader.
Xiao Fan had also considered Xue Ninger, but Xue Ninger resolutely said she wished to continue as Xiao Fan's personal bodyguard.
Xiao Fan didn't force her, after all having a beautiful female bodyguard around did provide an extra visual benefit.
With the guard platoon formed, Xiao Fan prepared to embark.
He dispatched 1st Platoon, 1st Company to Kaoshan Farm to gather building materials, and 2nd Platoon, 1st Company to Baihua Town to gather timber.
As for himself, he personally led 2nd Company, the guard platoon, an engineering platoon, and many heavy firepower units, preparing to head to Qingyang County Town.
This time, it was unlikely he'd be able to return after just a couple days. Xiao Fan made arrangements before leaving.
Ensuring the security of the base, then gathering as many usable machines and vehicles as possible.
Infrastructure construction to be completed as soon as possible, so that when he returned, they could start on the enclosure walls.
With everything arranged, Xiao Fan's party of over two hundred people, driving dozens of vehicles, set off mightily towards Qingyang County Town.
Kaoshan Farm was 130 km from Qingyang County Town. Shen Ruihui was already familiar with the route, driving a motorcycle at the front to lead the way.
En route they didn't encounter any major dangers, and directly arrived at the outskirts of Qingyang County Town.
Like Chishui County, this was also practically an abandoned city, although there were probably still survivors inside, no one could rescue them out.
"Commander, the building materials market is over there, at the edge of the city, perfect for taking things."
"Good, go to the building materials market first."
The convoy arrived at the building materials market, everyone got out of the vehicles.
Xiao Fan looked around, feeling this was simply heaven.
Building materials everywhere, not just what Shen Ruihui mentioned, all types of finishing materials, plumbing supplies etc, everything imaginable was available.
Xiao Fan had brought several dozen heavy trucks this time, all gathered over the past few days. He immediately ordered loading to start.
The engineering platoon had also brought some loading/unloading equipment, many machines could even collect materials directly on site, and they began working enthusiastically.
Leaving one combat squad here to protect, Xiao Fan led the main force straight towards Qingyang County Town.
Their speed gradually slowed down along the way.
Zombies would frequently appear on the road, and Xiao Fan discovered the number of variant zombies was also gradually increasing.
"Commander, an armored zombie ahead!"
Xiao Fan looked, and sure enough, an over 2m tall hulking zombie had appeared.
"Snipers get ready, take out that big guy, remember to take out its brain crystal after killing it."
The snipers fired, although the armor was strong too, under the joint sniping of two snipers it still went down easily.
After all sniper rifle bullets were nothing to joke about, they could penetrate armored zombie defenses all the same.
The engineer went to retrieve the crystal, and Xiao Fan paid it no more attention, continuing to survey the situation ahead.
There really was a river flowing through Qingyang County Town, separating five-fourths of the town on the other side.
The jewelry store was on this side, but it was also deep inside the urban area, the road ahead wouldn't be easy.
After arriving at a crossroads at the city entrance, Xiao Fan signaled the convoy to stop.
"Commander, the jewelry store is up ahead in the urban area, about 3 km away, why have we stopped?"
Xiao Fan looked up, pointing at the road surface, "What do you see there?"
Shen Ruihui looked over, only to see several wheel ruts on the road.
Because no one had maintained the city for over a month, there was a lot of dust on the ground, the ruts were still fairly visible.
"Ah! Someone actually went into the downtown area? Who would dare, I was extremely cautious every time I went in too, and still encountered danger several times. I can't believe an ordinary person is bolder than me."
Shen Ruihui found it hard to believe that ordinary people were more capable than him.
But Xiao Fan realized there was a problem, that the people who went in were definitely not ordinary, highly likely to be mutants.
********
his freshman year, Su Bai accidentally bound the "Indulgence Tycoon System." 【Sleeping in? Reward: +$1,000】 【Spent $288 at a street barbecue stall? Cashback: +$2,880】 【Dropped $14,396 on in-game skins? Special reward unlocked: A brand-new Porsche Panamera!】 Luxury cars, penthouses, corporate shares, financial empires… College life was all about living freely and doing whatever he pleased! … When the adorably naive academic genius faced family medical bills and financial struggles, Su Bai waved his hand dismissively: "Your future is on me." "Wuwu~ Big Brother is so good to me! I’ll become a scientist to repay you!" When the genius girl got bullied by a shady professor? Su Bai casually dropped a billion-dollar investment, forcing the university to grovel and beg for her return. A company’s funding chain collapsing? Su Bai smirked—cash was the one thing he’d never run out of. Years later, when people traced the rise of the AI prodigy beauty, who was the man behind her success? Not just that—Su Bai also became the tsundere campus belle’s unattainable dream, the contrast senior’s daily necessity, and the beautiful counselor’s emotional anchor…
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
ts me of treason?" "Correct. The host must return to the capital and gradually build up influence." "Wait—I have half a million soldiers, and you want me to go back to the capital to 'build influence'?" "Host, you are currently the Northern Garrison General, loyal to the Great Xia Dynasty." "Of course I am loyal to Great Xia! Absolutely loyal!" "But you keep referring to yourself as 'We'..." "Never mind the details! Summon all the regional commanders and military officers! We suspect treacherous officials are manipulating the court! They shall march with Us to the capital and purge the corrupt!" "......"
to panic—he has a system. As long as an investment target dies, he can claim a reward. And since he is immortal, the one thing he has plenty of is time. ... Countless years later. “Immortal Emperor of Longevity? I invested in him.” “Supreme Celestial Venerable? I invested in him.” “Undying Empress? I invested in her.” “...” “Heh. Once they’ve all died, even the Heavenly Dao will have to kneel and call me Dad.”
