Apocalypse: I can control zombies

Chapter 103 Zhao Lei's Surprise

On the way back, although they occasionally attracted zombies, they were protected by the horde of zombies and naturally faced no danger.

A few scattered ordinary zombies darted out from both sides of the street, but before they could get close to the group, they were all taken down one by one by the Iron Pillar-level zombies on the outside, without even disrupting the group's pace.

The 255 survivors walked in the middle of the line. At first, they would shrink back nervously because of the sudden roars from the roadside, but they got used to it after walking halfway.

They returned to Xiangyang Community before 5 p.m.

Zhao Lei walked at the front of the line, carrying his own luggage bag in one hand and supporting an elderly person with mobility issues with the other.

As he walked, he surveyed the residential compound wall that was completely sealed off by curtains, silently assessing the defense level of this outpost.

The wall is just an iron fence with curtains hanging on it; it's not physically strong enough, but the idea of ​​blocking the view is correct.

However, simply blocking the view is not enough. If there are not enough early warning methods on the outside, the people inside will be completely unaware when the zombie horde sneaks under the wall. In that case, this curtain is just deceiving themselves.

As he was thinking this, a quadcopter drone rose up from above his head, flew around the outside of the wall, and then turned towards the street.

Zhao Lei smacked his lips, seemingly marveling at the other party's early warning methods.

However, Zhao Lei was still somewhat worried. Lu Chen's ability to control zombies was strong, but being strong in combat and knowing how to manage them were two completely different things.

One person being good at fighting doesn't mean they can manage hundreds of people. Managing people is much more complicated than fighting zombies. It involves feeding, watering, toileting, conflict mediation, resource allocation, and psychological support—each of these requires technical skills.

He had seen many squad leaders with excellent military skills. They could lead a squad without any problem, but they would be overwhelmed when leading a platoon, and completely clueless when leading a company.

But when he entered the gate and saw the orderly scene in the community, he knew that his worries were completely unnecessary.

Several staff members were already waiting at the entrance. As soon as they saw the line return, they came up to greet them, holding registration forms and number tags, and guided the new survivors to line up, register, and receive porridge in an orderly manner.

Behind the registration desk, there was a makeshift medical station where two medical staff were treating the wounds of several survivors with leg injuries.

The porridge pot was set up next to the entrance of the building. Sun Xiulan and several kitchen helpers were ladling porridge into bowls one spoonful at a time, their movements swift and efficient. They also made sure to tell each person who received the bowl of porridge, "Be careful, it's hot."

The entire process was as smooth as a well-functioning machine; hundreds of people poured in without the slightest chaos.

After handing the elderly man with mobility issues over to the guide, Zhao Lei registered his name and family information at the registration desk.

When the staff member in charge of registration heard that he was an active-duty soldier, he looked up at him with some surprise, and then quickly wrote a few words after his name.

After receiving his number, he went to line up to get his porridge. While waiting in line, he continued to observe how the community was operating.

When he noticed that the guides would casually say, "This porridge was prepared by Commander Lu Chen, so we should thank Commander Lu Chen," he was just curious but didn't think much of it.

These people were all rescued by Lu Chen. Isn't knowing how to be grateful the most basic quality?

So when the guide handed him the porridge, he sincerely said, "Thank you, Commander Lu Chen."

Lu Chen, who was talking to Gao Yuan at the entrance of the building, had actually been possessing the elite zombie and silently observing Zhao Lei. When the other party said thank you, an exceptionally strong and hot warm current surged from his left wrist into the meteorite mark.

Although the intensity of this warm current is not as great as that of Ning Tieshan, Zhao Yongqiang, and others, it is still much stronger than that of ordinary people.

"Perhaps it's time to entrust him with an important task ahead of schedule," Lu Chen thought to himself.

The gratitude feedback from the meteorite imprint doesn't lie; Zhao Lei's gratitude towards him was heartfelt and extremely strong.

"Boss?" Gao Yuan was halfway through his report when he noticed Lu Chen staring absently in the direction of the building entrance. He immediately stopped talking and glanced at Lu Chen with some confusion.

"It's alright, you can continue." Lu Chen withdrew his gaze.

"Okay! These are the detailed plans for classifying Building 1 and Building 4 into residential areas."

"Building 1 has been cleared out and all vacant rooms have been counted. Building 4 is still being cleared out, but we should be able to clear at least half of the rooms by tonight."

"In addition, quite a few people have come to me asking how many contribution points are needed to exchange for a private room—especially the group that worked the hardest this morning, several of them came to ask if they could exchange contribution points for a private room."

Gao Yuan paused, a hint of urgency in his voice, "I think we need to come up with specific exchange rules as soon as possible, and it would be best to open the exchange catalog tomorrow."

"Letting everyone see that contribution points can indeed be exchanged for tangible benefits will better boost everyone's enthusiasm for work."

"No problem, I agree to all of these things. As for the specific details of the exchange, we'll decide on them at the meeting tonight." Lu Chen said, glancing down at his watch.

The watch showed just after 5 p.m., and he asked, "Dinner doesn't start until after 6 p.m., right?"

"Yes, that's right. I didn't expect you guys to be back so early this afternoon. The rice in the kitchen has just been cooked, and Sister Sun said that dinner won't be ready until 6 o'clock at the earliest," Gao Yuan said.

"Okay, I have another hour. I'm planning to go check out those old apartment buildings on the west side."

"That area is the key rescue zone for tomorrow. Has the early warning team finished their reconnaissance?" Lu Chen asked, referring to the tasks assigned that morning.

The early warning team used drones to conduct aerial reconnaissance of several surrounding residential areas, marking all the windows with red cloths hanging on them on the map. At the same time, they planned an optimal rescue route based on the density of the red cloths and road conditions.

"The reconnaissance work is complete. All the red cloth locations have been marked on the high-resolution aerial photographs, and the optimal route has been planned. Starting from Fenghua Road, we head west, dividing the route into three tiers based on the density of the red cloth, from highest to lowest. However—"

Gao Yuan looked slightly puzzled. "If you want to understand the situation, you can just take a look at the real-time footage from the drone. Why bother going there in person to scout the location? That area is at least two kilometers away from here, and it will take a lot of time to travel back and forth."

"It's not about reconnaissance. I plan to clear out as many zombies as possible from that area." Lu Chen's tone became serious.

He then went on to recount something that had happened this afternoon in Sunshine Garden.

"When we were rescuing people in the Sunshine Garden, we found some rooms with red cloths hanging on the windows. But when we went over and knocked on the doors, the doors had already been broken open, and the people inside were gone—or rather, they were still there, but had turned into zombies."