Chapter 118: The Harvest

Page 1/3

“Everyone, get ready…” After numerous battles against the zombies, no one showed the slightest hint of panic. Xie Han connected with the beam sniper teams via communication and ordered, “Your targets are the sensitive-type zombies. If spotted, shoot to kill immediately. If none appear, engage freely.”

The ten beam snipers, equipped with high-magnification scopes, began scanning the surging zombie horde.

Unlike traditional sniper rifles, the beam sniper rifle employs high-energy attack technology capable of striking distant targets, with a range about three times that of ordinary sniper rifles. Among its many advantages is minimal recoil; the high-energy shots produce barely perceptible kickback, allowing snipers to easily hit targets. Even a novice marksman can handle a beam sniper rifle and become an excellent sniper.

Soon, the snipers identified their targets. As they assigned targets among themselves, several beams shot out from the rifles, instantly killing the zombie dogs running ahead of the horde. These beams resembled laser rays capable of causing explosions, though the blasts were subtle and minor rather than flashy.

The field base command vehicle was fully equipped, essentially serving as a compact command center. Through its high-vision system, Xie Han could clearly see the heads of the blasted zombie dogs. To his surprise, amid the mixed tide of human and zombie creatures, a few zombie pigs appeared.

Xie Han was stunned and found it hard to believe. Pig genes are quite fragile; for a virulent virus like the XR virus, domestic pigs should not be able to carry it. Yet what he saw turned the impossible into possible.

These zombie pigs moved not very fast, slightly faster than human zombies. Their bodies were covered in rotting flesh, with abilities less than half that of the zombie dogs. Despite their large size, they were jostled and shoved by the surrounding human zombies, running back and forth awkwardly in the horde, looking pitiful and comical.

Xie Han found this scene amusing, almost bursting into laughter—if not for his role as the chief commander, he might have already laughed aloud.

Compared to rural areas, where livestock is usually kept enclosed, if there were no limits to what the XR virus could infect, having animal zombies far superior to humans would be terrifying. Think about the speed and agility of dogs, the running power of horses, the charging force of cattle—all these could inflict massive casualties if turned into zombies.

Without such a boundary, it’s hard to imagine what damage tiny creatures like mosquitoes and ants could cause after mutation. Humanity might have been wiped out long ago.

The appearance of the zombie pigs was just a small incident. Without knowing much about them, the beam snipers naturally targeted them after eliminating the zombie dogs. The somewhat clumsy zombie pigs couldn’t evade the snipers’ attacks; after several beams struck, the pigs silently collapsed on the path ahead of the advancing human zombies.

After confirming no other high-threat zombie species appeared, the beam snipers entered free hunt mode. From atop the command vehicle, Xie Han saw the beams flashing repeatedly, each flash accompanied by a zombie’s head exploding. The precise strikes of the snipers inspired some thoughts.

If thousands of beam snipers could be trained and deployed en masse, what might happen? With their long-range attack capability, zombies would have to clear at least two high-energy clips to get close. Each clip allows about 60 shots, so each sniper could kill roughly 50 to 60 zombies. A thousand snipers could hold off attacks from 50,000 to 60,000 zombies.

It was an appealing idea, but the beam sniper rifle was still in the trial production phase, with fewer than ten thousand units worldwide. Moreover, the high-energy clips they use aren’t ordinary magazines—once depleted, they’re gone. Neither Xincheng nor Wangtian City could manufacture such clips; only a high-energy utilization center affiliated with the city’s Academy of Sciences had that capability.

In the years before the apocalypse, technology exploded with breakthroughs. Many theoretical technologies were realized in those years—hovering principles, large tactical mecha technology, and more. Yet perhaps the heavens resented Earth’s rapid advancement, as most high-end tech was only partially completed or in trial stages, with few deployed. Then came the outbreak of the XR virus, plunging these advancements into the abyss. Sometimes Xie Han wondered: if not for this virus, might Earth have truly entered an era of cosmic exploration in the next decade?

Lost in such thoughts, Xie Han noticed the snipers had exhausted one high-energy clip and were loading a second but not firing, as the zombies had already crossed the brushwood field. At such close range, wasting precious energy was unnecessary.

“Boom…”

As the first zombie stepped out of the brushwood field, it triggered a buried infantry bounding mine. The mine silently launched into the air three meters high and exploded without warning. Countless shrapnel pieces shot out at high pressure, indiscriminately striking all targets within range.

Five or six unlucky zombies had their heads shattered by the shrapnel and collapsed.

Clearly, bounding mines were far deadlier than electromagnetic cluster mines or others, delivering lethal blows. Other mines might only tear a zombie apart but not kill outright, which was less effective against hordes.

Page 2/3

As the zombie horde crossed the minefield, they entered the machine gun’s firing range.

“High-energy cannons, prepare! Target the densest cluster of zombies!” The four pre-charged high-energy cannons quickly locked onto the thickest part of the horde. After calculating coordinates, the cannons emitted dazzling white light, firing four sun-like high-energy spheres that slammed into the zombies.

The explosive roar and blinding light appeared and vanished almost simultaneously. Xie Han was already familiar with the power of high-energy weapons from aquatic targets, but now, striking land targets, the cannons performed even better.

The bombardment turned several hundred square meters into a corpse-free zone. The high-energy blasts shredded zombies before vaporizing them. The upheaved earth, huge craters blasted out, and scorched soil emitting faint smoke all attested to the cannon’s might.

Originally, about four thousand zombies were present. After the brushwood fire and beam sniper attacks, over half were eliminated. The recent cannon blasts pulverized hundreds more into fragments. The remaining zombies posed no threat to the convoy. Under machine gun fire, hardly any managed to get within ten meters of the formation.

The machine guns’ accuracy ensured most bullets hit zombies, though headshots were impossible to guarantee. While zombies only truly died if their brains were hit, Xie Han believed that bullets shattering limbs or bisecting torsos would render zombies harmless to the team. He doubted zombies without limbs could still move.

Thus, the powerful machine gun barrage easily knocked down the remaining zombies in the field. With this, the hunting mission was halfway successful.

Eliminating these zombies didn’t mean the village’s resources were free for the taking. Some zombies might still lurk, hiding in corners or lying low, ready to pounce if unnoticed.

Though the intense battle seemed effortless, everyone had been exhausted after hours of fighting. For safety, Xie Han ordered a half-hour rest before searching for useful materials.

Fighting zombies was dangerous, but with proper tactics, dealing with ordinary zombies wasn’t difficult. After confirming all zombies were cleared, soldiers relaxed, speaking softly about daily matters. Military discipline in Xincheng was strict; no smoking or such during marches or combat breaks, but during base downtime, such rules loosened.

In just one month, civilians had transformed into disciplined soldiers—a testament to Xu Qiang’s efforts.

“All right, except for guards, split into five groups of twenty each and slowly advance into the village.” Half an hour passed. Xie Han jumped out of the field command vehicle, brandishing a demolition star from the spatial storage as he issued orders.

Over a hundred soldiers, each armed with light machine guns, cautiously approached the village. The scene made Xie Han want to laugh aloud, reminiscent of Japanese troops entering villages during the Resistance Era—hunched backs, furtive expressions—though their intentions differed.

Despite only a month of formal training, the soldiers quickly formed two squads upon reaching the village entrance to seize several strategic high points.

Post-apocalypse villages rarely had earthen or mud-brick houses anymore, replaced almost entirely by two- to five-story flat-roofed buildings. Some families fenced off large plots and built villa-like houses, planting various plants in their courts. By any measure, these were comparable to genuine villas.

Vehicle ownership in rural areas remained high. Domestic giants like BYD had, after decades of development, risen to rival major automakers like FAW and Dongfeng. Their vehicles remained competitively priced and improved in quality thanks to technological maturity.

In the apocalypse, BYD’s electric vehicles were probably the most popular in rural areas. Free from gasoline dependency, these EVs quickly captured 60% of the rural market due to mature tech and low prices. BYD’s rise to a major automaker was closely tied to this strategy.

The village was somewhat dilapidated. Years of neglect left less than a third of street lamps intact. Tall wild grasses grew along concrete roadsides. Aside from paved areas, every inch of soil was overrun by weeds and young trees sprouted everywhere.

The chaotic wild growth bore clear signs of the recent zombie surge. Rusted iron gates stood all over, and broken power lines lay on the ground, all painting a desolate picture.

“A Mu, lead the fourth group as the vanguard. Search carefully for any stragglers.”

A Mu led the fourth group charging down the concrete road toward the village center. With the first and second groups holding the high ground, he had little fear of sudden zombie attacks.

Page 3/3

Minutes later, brief gunfire erupted from the village center—likely A Mu’s team encountering a few stragglers.

Shortly after, a messenger soldier ran out from the village center, saluted Xie Han, and reported, “Sir, the remaining zombies in the village have been cleared.”

“Except for guards, everyone else, strip the village bare of visible rare metals, chemical raw materials, and so forth.” Without hesitation, Xie Han issued the order. Given the village’s proximity to a secondary highway and not far from the expressway, the old saying “To get rich, first build roads” held true. Villages near such transport routes rarely failed to prosper.

With wealth came some high-end tech products in households. Xie Han’s gaze naturally fell on these. Many items, once dismantled and recombined, could quickly form new devices. Given his understanding of Wu Donglin and others, such modification work was their favorite.

The village’s belongings were effectively ownerless. Soldiers broke in without hesitation, taking anything deemed useful and gathering it in an open area at the village entrance. There, logistics personnel sorted what to keep or discard.

Xie Han, initially eager, soon lost interest and stayed inside the command vehicle. With A Mu commanding on site, managing this near-move operation was effortless.

The Hercules heavy trucks brought by the team were insufficient; in less than two hours, ten trucks were packed with various metals and some chemical materials, while only half the village had been searched.

“Check how many village trucks are still operational.”

Nearly all apocalypse soldiers could drive; there were no traffic controls—if you could handle a vehicle, no matter how you drove, no traffic police would stop you. Even novices quickly became proficient. Thus, Xie Han had no worries about driver shortages.

A Mu soon brought seven or eight functioning vans, minibuses, and trucks to the village entrance.

“Damn, I didn’t expect rural apocalypse areas to be this wealthy. In a medium-sized village, seven or eight vehicles remain operable. No wonder China can slowly catch up with the US and Europe.” Stimulated by this, Xie Han couldn’t help but marvel.

A Mu chuckled, “This village has over a hundred households. Ten or twenty vehicles are normal. You don’t know, there are even more electric cars. But after three and a half years, damn it, even the best batteries have drained.”

Electric cars, while valuable in the apocalypse, were best suited for paved roads. On muddy dirt roads, low-powered EVs might carry a few passengers but struggled with loads. Xie Han didn’t favor EVs: “They’re useless, poor load capacity, weak startup power. If one gets stuck in a ditch, it’s game over.”

A Mu was indifferent; the base had many vehicles, no need to haul these EVs. He mysteriously pulled a box from his pocket and handed it to Xie Han. “This is specially for you, something the base doesn’t have.”

Xie Han was puzzled but took it out of curiosity. Seeing the label “Durex Condoms” instantly flushed his face red, and he cursed, “A Mu, you bastard, are you thinking about women?”

A Mu grinned, “I think you and Fei Wu make a good match. Men can’t hold it in too long, or they’ll get sick. Those of us without luck with women have to sneak off to the civilian base for a quick fix. You have Fei Wu watching, so no funny business.”

“Damn…” Xie Han cursed again. “Fei Wu and I have nothing going on. You all talk nonsense. You’re the ones chasing sketchy women who need this.” He shoved the condom box back into A Mu’s hand.

Clearly, bringing such items from the modern world into the apocalypse was necessary for Xu Qiang’s team; after all, if someone caught a disease now, the base had no hospital or treatment options.

(P.S.: Please vote if you enjoy the story—any kind of vote is appreciated. Thank you, everyone.)