Chapter Twenty-Six: The Zombie Enigma

Rebuilding Civilization

Damn, even if you know, you don’t have to say it out loud, do you? No matter how thick-skinned Taishan was, being called out so bluntly left him a bit embarrassed. He gave a silly laugh and said, “Brother Xu, you can’t put it like that. Who’s just here for a free meal? I’m just doing my best to help out Boss Xie!”

Xie Han cast a glance at Taishan and said indifferently, “Well, it’s almost lunchtime anyway. You might as well stay, Taishan.” In truth, Xie Han had had his eye on Taishan for a while. After all, he’d been living here in Yanglin Town for over a year and knew the place inside out. Having him around would make things much easier. Xie Han himself was new here and was more or less blind—he’d have to rely on people like Taishan quite a lot.

Hearing this, Taishan’s embarrassment vanished, replaced by delight and a trace of pride. It made the others wonder if his earlier awkwardness had just been an act to win their sympathy.

Just then, Chu Tianhe, who had taken Xie Han’s bag, suddenly let out a shrill cry and pulled out a slab of cured pork, shouting in disbelief, “Cured meat? Holy—! We’ve hit the jackpot! Hahaha…”

Everyone immediately turned their attention to the meat in Chu Tianhe’s hands, astonishment written all over their faces. In this post-apocalyptic world, meat was something unimaginably precious. In a world ravaged by infection, healthy meat was nearly impossible to find, and most of the cured meat in the city had long been devoured by zombies. The little that remained was pitifully scarce—even the highest-ranking managers in Yanglin Town considered it a rare treat to eat it once or twice a week. This sudden appearance of a large piece of cured meat was nothing short of miraculous.

“Damn, we’re in for a feast this time…” Taishan swallowed hard, his eyes bloodshot as he stared at the meat, calculating in his mind: If he took this to market, it would be worth at least a hundred and seventy or eighty premium wheat buns. If converted to gold… Damn, forget it, he’d rather not do the math.

The reactions of the crowd gave Xie Han a secret sense of satisfaction. He had never imagined a slab of cured meat could wield such power in the apocalypse. The way they looked at him now—well, “worship” was the only word for it. Xie Han thought wickedly, If I took out all the cured meat from my spatial storage, would their eyeballs just fall out of their heads?

Even Xu Qiang, usually so aloof, looked shocked and asked incredulously, “Captain, how did you get this cured meat?” Xu Qiang was now completely convinced by his captain—not only was Xie Han a formidable fighter, but he seemed to have supernatural ability to find food. With a man like this in charge, who would ever need to worry about their next meal?

Xu Qiang’s question seemed to spark everyone’s curiosity. Aside from the three kids who crowded around Chu Tianhe, trying to sniff the aroma of the meat, all the others stared at Xie Han with eyes aglow, desperate for an answer. But how could Xie Han possibly tell the truth? That he’d brought it from 2009? No way, some secrets could never be spoken aloud. He widened his eyes and laughed it off. “How did I get it? Well, I just got it, that’s all.” Then, more seriously, he asked, “What’s wrong? Don’t you all want to eat meat?”

Chu Tianhe was the first to snap out of it. He snatched the meat from Lu Haiyang’s hands, glanced at the time, and announced, “Hey, it’s nearly lunchtime! I’ll get started on the meal. You guys have no idea—back home, cured meat was my favorite. I learned the recipe from my mom. I promise you’ll want seconds once you’ve tasted my cured meat rice.” With that, he slipped into the kitchen.

Thanks to Chu Tianhe’s change of topic, everyone snapped out of their awkwardness, exchanging sheepish grins.

Xie Han beckoned Taishan over. Taishan shuffled up eagerly, fawning all the way. “Boss Xie, any orders?” The sight of the cured meat had tamed this burly fellow completely.

Xie Han settled onto the sofa, and Qi Feiwu handed him a cup of water, her cheeks tinged with red. Xie Han paid her no mind and turned to Taishan. “How much do you know about hunting?”

Taishan paused, scratching his head awkwardly. “Not much. Don’t be fooled by my tough looks; I’m actually a bit of a coward. These days, just being alive is already a blessing. If I run into someone tough, I steer clear. Hunting isn’t a game for us. Even groups of dozens or over a hundred people can get wiped out. And even if you manage to grab some food, it’s never much. In these past three years, all the easy pickings were long gone.”

As Taishan spoke, a hint of resentment crept into his voice. “Damn it, the powerful ones in the base always have their fill and live comfortably, while folks like us, without any real strength, have to wait every day for the base to hand out a measly bun.” He shook his head. “Honestly, those buns barely keep you half full. After more than a year, my mouth’s gone bland from eating the same thing.”

Seeing Taishan’s bitter face, Xie Han was amused and teased, “Isn’t this just sour grapes—complaining about what you can’t have?”

Taishan was momentarily speechless. Faced with Xie Han’s serious gaze, he could only shrug and admit, “Fine, I’ll admit it’s sour grapes. But you must understand, Boss Xie, people like us who aren’t content to stay put always look for chances to slip out of the base. About half a year ago, I still had a few dozen brothers under me. I figured snatching some food wouldn’t be a problem, so I applied for a hunting mission.”

“And the result?” Xie Han sipped his water calmly. What he wanted most now was Taishan’s experience with hunting.

“The result?” Taishan gave a bitter laugh. “Nearby food sources were all long gone, so if you want food, you have to go into the city. Even with a group of a few dozen, we were nothing compared to the hordes of zombies in the city. Out of pride, we forced our way through with bullets, storming a small suburban town at the city’s edge. We did get some food, but only eight of us, including me, made it back to base.”

Even Xie Han was stunned by this. Dozens had set out, but only eight returned—a truly tragic outcome.

Taishan shook his head. “Anyone who hasn’t seen it for themselves can’t imagine how terrifying it is. The ground’s crawling with zombies, no space to even stand. Unless you shoot them in the head, bullets are useless. And not everyone can shoot like that.” He paused, a worried look crossing his face. “Boss Xie, the past six months, more and more zombies have been spilling out of Wangtian City—even showing up around the base. That can’t be good. What do you think…?”

Hearing this, Xie Han’s brows knitted together. He, too, felt a growing sense of unease. “But aren’t zombies supposed to stay in one place? How could zombies from Wangtian City turn up near the base? Yanglin Town is over fifty kilometers from Wangtian City.” Xie Han had always thought the zombies nearby were just local wanderers, never imagining they’d actually come all the way from Wangtian City.

Taishan shrugged. “I have no idea. Maybe they followed the hunting teams back? But that doesn’t make sense—hunting teams usually use vehicles, and zombies could never keep up. Maybe there’s just too much human activity in the base, and the zombies can smell it from Wangtian City? But that sounds insane. If their sense of smell was that good, they’d have torn the base apart by now. The base looks solid, but if hundreds of thousands or millions of zombies attacked, it wouldn’t last an hour.”

Faced with so many questions, Xie Han—being new here—had no answers. Still, he knew that if the base ever faced a real zombie assault, it would be a catastrophe. “It seems I’ll need to visit Wangtian City myself and see what’s happening there.”

(P.S.: Apologies, my computer was down due to the rain yesterday. I only managed to fix it today and upload this chapter. I’m very sorry for the delay.)