Courtyard House: I fish in the heavens, a professional bird abuser.

Chapter 285 Radio Signal—Claire's Voice

The campsite fell silent in the dead of night.

Aside from the splashing sound of the river water flowing over the pebbles, the only other sound was the occasional footsteps of the sentry on duty as he walked across the gravel.

He Yuanchao sat in his "medical room".

He had reinforced the walls of the wooden cabin, and several layers of heavy curtains hung inside to effectively block out light. A military shortwave radio sat on a simple wooden table, its indicator light flashing intermittently.

He was holding a knob in his hand, slowly adjusting the frequency.

"Shh—hiss—"

The radio waves are full of static noise.

Listening to this sound for too long can cause hallucinations. He Yuanchao, however, was very focused. He was wearing headphones, his brows slightly furrowed, as if trying to detect some extremely subtle fluctuation.

In his memory, the story of Resident Evil 2 was nearing its end. A nuclear bomb had razed Raccoon City, Umbrella Corporation was shrinking its global presence, and the survivors were drifting aimlessly across the wasteland.

Claire Redfield.

This name had been on his radar for a while now. According to the original timeline, she should have been struggling in the Nevada desert with a large convoy.

However, the timeline here is clearly messed up by the variable He Yuanchao.

Kane died prematurely, Hive Block B was emptied out, and Alice awakened ahead of schedule.

The consequence of this chain reaction is that many people who shouldn't have appeared at this time have shown up prematurely.

"Zzz—this is…the convoy…can you hear me?"

A woman's voice suddenly popped out of the earphones.

Despite the loud noise, He Yuanchao immediately sat up straight.

That was Claire's voice.

Unlike Jill's capable yet restrained police voice, Claire's voice exudes a wilder vitality, a quality honed from years of leading a group of people to safety in the wilderness.

"Buzz—we're stuck...on Highway 7...at a gas station. There are too many zombies...we need...ammunition and fuel."

The sound was intermittent, and the signal strength fluctuated wildly.

He Yuanchao glanced at the signal gain meter on the radio. The pointer swung back and forth at the edge of the red zone.

"System, lock onto the location of the transmission source."

He gave the instructions in his mind.

A red halo immediately appeared on the map on my retina.

Northwest direction. The straight-line distance is 82 kilometers.

The location is right near an exit of the Allegheny Mountains.

The terrain there was flat, surrounded by nothing but weeds except for a few old roads. This terrain was good for convoys, allowing them to move quickly; but it was a nightmare for those trapped, as there was absolutely no cover.

He Yuanchao pressed the call button.

"This is Dawn. Claire, please respond."

His voice, transmitted through the transmitter, transformed into invisible radio waves that surged into the darkness.

There was a deathly silence on the other end of the radio.

Then came a loud static crackling sound.

"Dawn? Who are you...? Are you part of Umbrella's trap?" Claire's tone instantly became extremely wary, and the sound of her pulling the bolt could be faintly heard from her side.

"If it were Umbrella Corporation, what you'd hear now wouldn't be the radio, but the sound of anti-tank missiles." He Yuanchao's voice was as steady as a mountain. "I'm from Raccoon City. Your location is at that abandoned gas station, right? The oil tanks underground there have long since dried up. Don't hold out there."

There was another few seconds of silence on the other end of the radio.

"From Raccoon City... How many people are there on your side?"

"Thirty-one. We have walls, food, and lights." He Yuanchao succinctly laid out his trump card. "And what about your side?"

"There were originally more than fifty. Now... only thirty-six are still breathing. There are many seriously wounded. We are surrounded by a group of mutated zombies. They are different from ordinary things; they run very fast and can jump."

A licker? Or a mutant dog?

He Yuanchao narrowed his eyes.

Those who can surround an armed convoy in the wilderness are definitely not the kind of slow-moving weaklings.

"How much longer can we hold out?"

"The ammunition will only last until dawn tomorrow. If no reinforcements arrive before dawn, I'll lead the rest of the men in a forced charge, but that means abandoning all the wounded." Claire's voice sounded exhausted, but also ruthless. "I don't want to do that."

"Then stay there and don't move." He Yuanchao glanced at the clock on the wall. "I'll leave before dawn. It's an 80-kilometer journey; my car can get there in two hours."

"Why did you save us?" Claire suddenly asked.

This is a very direct question. In the apocalypse, unprovoked kindness is often more chilling than malice.

He Yuanchao smiled.

He looked out the window at the newly harvested vegetable field.

"Because I need people. I need people who can handle guns, people who can fix cars, people who can survive in the wilderness."

"I want your person."

Claire let out a cold snort from the other end of the radio.

"Pretty boastful. We'll talk when you get there. If you're just here to take advantage, my bullets don't discriminate."

"Then it's settled."

He Yuanchao turned off the radio.

He leaned back in his chair, took out a flattened cigarette from his pocket, and without lighting it, just held it under his nose and smelled it.

Save Claire.

This is not just about expanding the camp's population.

More importantly, Claire carries a certain kind of "plot causality".

As long as he saves more key figures in this world, the causal points given by the system will increase exponentially.

Moreover, he needs more people to investigate the Spencer lab lead.

"Knock knock knock".

There was a knock at the door.

He Yuanchao didn't look up: "Come in."

Jill pushed aside the aluminum panel and walked in. She wasn't asleep yet, still wearing her blue tactical vest, and carrying a kettle of freshly boiled water.

"Did you get the signal?"

"Got her. Claire Redfield. She's stuck at a gas station 80 kilometers away."

Jill put down the kettle, her brows immediately furrowing.

"Claire? I've heard her name at the police station. She's Chris's sister. That girl's very capable. She has a convoy?"

"Yes. More than thirty people. Surrounded by mutants."

He Yuanchao stood up, walked to the front of the map, and drew a circle in the northwest direction with a red pen.

"Jill, tomorrow morning. You, Alice, old Tom, come with me."

Jill nodded without hesitation.

"How many weapons do we need to bring?"

"All the assault rifles. Bring plenty of grenades. Have Greg move that big amplifier generator to the pickup truck bed; I need it."

Jill paused, then asked, "A generator? Why would we bring a generator to rescue people?"

He Yuanchao's lips curled up slightly, revealing a somewhat mischievous smile.

"Although zombies have no sight, they are extremely sensitive to sound and light. Since Claire's side is too tightly surrounded, I'll throw an open-air party for those rotten flesh."

Jill looked at his expression and shook her head helplessly.

"You always have some strange ideas."

"As long as it works."

He Yuanchao walked out of the wooden house.

The night breeze was cool, and the cool air on his face made him feel much more awake.

He walked over to the pickup truck and checked the fuel gauge.

There's still more than half a tank left. Adding the few barrels of spare diesel we retrieved, it's more than enough for a round trip.

He walked around the camp.

Peyton sat atop the watchtower, holding his Remington rifle, his eyes scanning the shadows of the valley warily.

Upon seeing He Yuanchao, Payton relaxed slightly.

"Boss, are you going out tomorrow?"

"Okay. Let's go rescue someone."