Chapter Sixty-Five: Sweeping Through the Freight Yard

Rebuilding Civilization (Updated in the dead of night, not an easy feat—please show your support)

They lingered in the cave for about ten minutes before the convoy departed once again, this time with the addition of five armored vehicles, which marked a qualitative leap in their overall strength. As they exited the cave, Chen Liu was carrying a long, narrow box wrapped in cloth. After leaping onto the Humvee King, he handed the parcel to Xie Han, saying, “This is for you. I was planning to keep it for myself, but now it seems more fitting in your hands.”

Xie Han took it with curiosity. It felt very heavy, probably weighing around twenty pounds. After unwrapping the outer layer of cloth, he found a long, black wooden box. The box was about eighty centimeters in length, engraved with some arcane symbols that Xie Han couldn’t recognize at all. Seeing his confusion, Chen Liu laughed and said, “Why bother studying that nonsense? They're just for show, to fool kung fu fantasists.”

Xie Han was taken aback, not expecting this seemingly mysterious box to be nothing more than a ruse. He looked at Chen Liu and asked, “Are you telling me you made this all intentionally cryptic just to play tricks?”

Chen Liu chuckled and replied, “Well, what’s inside is still a treasure. If I didn’t go for a bit of mystery and flair, how could I impress anyone? Sometimes, even just the box can boost your status.”

All the more intrigued by Chen Liu’s words, Xie Han took a closer look. The box itself had a retro design, and with a gentle press of a button, the lid sprang open. Xie Han took a deep breath and slowly lifted the lid. Inside lay a gray long blade, about seventy centimeters in length, emitting a strange, pale light as the sunlight fell upon it. Surprised, Xie Han took up the blade, and even through the edge, he could sense its incredible sharpness.

“Well? Do you like it?” Chen Liu asked from the side. “Sometimes, when dealing with zombies, a blade is more practical than a gun. With your skills, you really need a good blade.”

Of course Xie Han was pleased. He had long wanted to commission such a weapon, but modern craftsmanship couldn’t easily fulfill his demanding specifications, and the process would have taken ages. The moment he laid eyes on this gray long blade, he was smitten. He swung it a few times, performing intricate patterns, and found it felt as natural as his own arm. “Brother Chen Liu, this blade is simply perfect.”

Chen Liu explained, “This long blade is made primarily from chromium, the hardest metal in the world, with an alloy of titanium, tungsten, osmium, cobalt, and over a dozen other metals. Its hardness surpasses that of most specialty alloys on the market. Since chromium is silver-white and the other materials are mainly black, the resulting alloy is this distinctive gray. The blade originally came from the Special Equipment Department. It didn’t serve me much, but now that you’re here, it has found its rightful owner.”

“Thank you, Brother Chen Liu…” Xie Han’s gratitude was sincere. The blade might not be the most valuable, but it was clearly cherished by Chen Liu. And now, with such a sharp weapon, his safety was considerably enhanced. The box was fitted with a carrying strap, so Xie Han slung it over his shoulder with ease.

When the convoy returned to the elevated highway, it was exactly 5:40. According to past experience, Gao Tianhao’s convoy, with its lead vehicles, should have already started to depart the base. Xie Han couldn’t help but wonder, with a hint of malice, how Gao Tianhao was managing his firepower after losing Chen Liu, his main source of fire support.

With zombies amassing in greater numbers on the highway, Chen Liu ordered three Humvee Kings to take point and clear a path with their firepower. This was no easy task; they had to fight their way through nearly the entire route. By the time they reached the plaza before the market, the three Humvee Kings had emptied dozens of boxes of ammunition. The eight-barrel heavy machine guns, though devastating, consumed bullets at an unsustainable rate—especially in the post-apocalyptic world, where replenishing ammunition was no simple matter.

Compared to the throngs of zombies on the highway, the main avenue at Yong’an Freight Yard was far less congested. To conserve ammunition, they plowed through the undead rather than shooting. It was on this stretch that Xie Han truly appreciated the Humvee King’s power. Even when faced with dozens of zombies at once, the vehicle’s brute force sent them flying or crushed them beneath its wheels.

Once they reached the freight yard’s perimeter, the Humvee Kings erupted in another volley of heavy machine gun fire. If they wanted to clear out the entire freight yard, the first order of business was to exterminate the zombies. Fortunately, Gao Tianhao’s raid on the Wanjiaxi Market warehouse the day before had drawn away most of the zombies, so the numbers here were about the same as Xie Han’s first visit—still in the thousands, but manageable for the convoy.

“Alright, everyone, move quickly…” Once they had cleared the avenue, Chen Liu was the first to charge into Yong’an Freight Yard. The recent barrage had clearly attracted all the zombies to the entrance. The moment they saw Chen Liu’s Humvee King, they surged toward it in a frenzy. Xu Qiang, manning the vehicle’s guns, was already on high alert. As soon as the zombies appeared, he squeezed the trigger, and the eight-barrel heavy machine gun roared to life, spewing flames and mowing down every zombie in sight.

The ammunition used by Chen Liu’s Humvee King was all explosive rounds. Determined to clear the area quickly, he spared no expense. The rounds tore through the closest zombies, exploding among those behind them. The relentless explosions, mingling with the heavy machine gun’s roar, turned the freight yard into a seething black haze, shredding the zombies to pieces before this overwhelming firepower.

Following Chen Liu’s lead, the armored vehicles behind him soon revealed their own ferocity. The twin-linked laser cannons atop them began to charge, blue energy gathering at the barrel tips. In just five seconds, the glow reached its peak, and two beams of laser light silently shot forth, targeting the densest zombie clusters.

“Boom… boom…”

Two thunderous explosions rang out—not the billowing black smoke Xie Han had imagined, but a flash of blue light. Within a radius of three to four meters around the point of impact, the zombies seemed twisted and compressed, then burst into a jet of blackened gore, vanishing into the air. At the blast point, a crater over a meter deep was left in the freight yard’s ground.

The laser cannons were not as powerful as Xie Han had expected, but each shot cleared a three- or four-meter area, which was still quite satisfactory. The advantage of these twin-linked laser cannons was their short charging time and high rate of fire. Their drawback, however, was significant: in terms of energy, these were the smallest caliber available for armored vehicles, but even so, each vehicle could only manage thirty shots before exhausting its energy reserves.

While Xie Han was satisfied, Chen Liu was considerably less so. He quickly activated the communications system and shouted furiously, “Who the hell told you to use the laser cannons? Damn it, you idiots—after a few more shots, who’s going to fill in those craters? Enough! Just use the machine guns!”

Chen Liu’s tirade made the armored vehicle crews realize their mistake; after all, they were at the freight yard entrance. A few more blasts from the laser cannons, and the entire entrance might become impassable. Fearing they’d be put to work filling in craters, the gunners hastily switched back to their eight-barrel machine guns, unleashing a storm of bullets at the zombies within the yard.