"It's really nothing," Zhuo Ling said, without any pretense of humility. "However, even if we could deal with all the monsters and zombies in the world, we wouldn't have the time. No matter how powerful an individual is, they can't possibly have enough time to deal with so many things. You yourselves need to grow. We can only help you when you can't handle it. Otherwise, even if we killed them all, what good would it do? They would have killed you all before we could kill them."
Her words, which seemed to distance herself from the situation, left those present with complex emotions, but they could only agree, having nothing else to say.
Indeed, no matter how powerful this person was, she was still just one person. Could one person protect so many others?
Of course not.
Their ability to protect them from those monsters and ensure not a single one of them died was already the utmost of their protection. Without them, even without the biggest zombie, they would have lost many of their own kind in the process.
Lu Huaqing's smile froze on his face. After a moment, he sighed softly, "Miss Zhao is right. We need to become stronger to deal with those monsters."
Zhou Chuan also said, "There will likely be many more actions like this in the future. We will seize this opportunity for training."
From now on, or perhaps even earlier, he had always felt that Zhuo Ling was unlike people from this world. She would hold back for ordinary people and was willing to go out to find food for them. However, her attitude, her face when confronting disasters and the corpses of her own kind, lacked the human sympathy and concern. What she had, at most, was a kind of compassion.
A compassion from a high vantage point, incompatible with others.
Therefore, after seeing her act a few times, Zhou Chuan had unconsciously placed her in a higher position. This subtle psychological shift made him feel that they could treat the current war as a training opportunity, much like military exercises in the past. Despite the danger, no one would die.
What a great assurance this was!
In this perilous doomsday era, they had a stable and powerful backing. They could treat such a war as training. How fortunate they were!
The others remained silent.
Just as Lu Huaqing was about to go rest, Zhou Chuan's communicator rang. Upon answering, it was, as expected, the main troop behind them. They had arrived hours early, and the main troop likely couldn't wait any longer.
Zhou Chuan reported their situation to Zhen Jie, clearly explaining the safe area they had chosen and their current progress in clearing the area. Zhen Jie also indicated that they would arrive soon.
After hanging up the communicator, he said, "The main troop will arrive in about two more hours. Mr. Lu, you should go rest. Other injured individuals should also find a place to rest. There are still many bedsheets and quilts here; you can sleep after tidying them up. Miss Zhao, you and your group..."
"No need to concern yourselves with us."
"Alright."
This school no longer posed the threat of a giant zombie. As long as those people were careful, they wouldn't easily get injured. If anyone still died under these circumstances, it would be fate. She couldn't manage it all.
As it turned out, those people were not useless. Most of them were soldiers, hardened and meticulous. They cleaned several dormitory buildings with only minor injuries; no one died as a result.
In the evening, the entire main troop entered the school. Since not all buildings had been cleared, everyone had to squeeze in to live. However, compared to sleeping under the open sky and constantly being attacked by aliens or zombies on the road, this place was practically paradise.
They also cleared out an administrative building. Its layout was more suitable for family living, and the families of ability users and important team members were temporarily housed there.
The Zhao family cleaned two rooms, and Chong Yan provided them with bedsheets, quilts, and other necessities. He and Zhuo Ling chose a small room, not needing anything else, as long as it had a thick mattress, so they could forget about everything.
Zhuo Ling opened the window. Several researchers in slightly discolored white coats walked over, followed by a large group of soldiers helping them transport the corpse of the giant zombie.
That night, some people stayed up all night, cleaning another administrative building to convert it into a laboratory. They moved in all the research equipment and samples collected along the way. Once the power was connected, they immediately began their research work.
Alien specimens, the corpse of the giant zombie, samples of other mutated plants and animals, crystal cores, water sources, food... There was so much they needed to research. Although they had found some assistants within the team, facing the immense scientific research task, they wished they could split themselves into dozens to work together.
For the next few days, they continued to clear zombies from the school. Gradually, some ordinary people also formed teams to help. After all, the number of soldiers was less than one-twentieth of the total population, and relying on them was somewhat difficult.
The laboratory took away many zombie specimens and captured some live ones. The rest were too many to store, so they were burned.
After clearing the area, they led people to reinforce the railings and specifically strengthened areas with potential safety hazards. The three large gates were re-fitted with bars, and there were always guards and patrols day and night. The safety factor increased several times over.
After settling down, food became a major issue again.
The food they had brought back was almost gone. The meals for so many people were not a small matter. Zhen Jie began organizing people to go out and find food. At the same time, they received news from other bases. After Kyoto relocated to the Central Plains, the research personnel at the base temporarily called Central City had developed some mutated grains that could cope with the current soil and climate conditions. People from other bases could go and get seeds to plant.
Their base had taken shape. As more people would inevitably arrive, if they didn't produce food, these people would starve to death sooner or later. Therefore, he planned to send people out to search for food while also dispatching a group to Central City to collect the mutated seeds.
"This journey will definitely be fraught with peril, especially crossing several large rivers. The news they sent said that many alien monsters have appeared in these rivers, with enormous bodies, some even hundreds of meters long, and they are very bloodthirsty. Now, except for airplanes and helicopters, nothing can cross the bridges. For this trip, I truly can't find anyone else to go except you."
Zhuo Ling shrugged. "Sure."
"Just the two of us?" Chong Yan's tone seemed somewhat excited.
Zhen Jie was quite speechless. "Besides collecting mutated seeds, we also plan to discuss the purification of crystal cores with the researchers there, as well as other work. So, it definitely won't be just the two of you going. The specific personnel arrangements are still pending. It should be decided in the next couple of days."
"Let's do it as soon as possible. The weather is getting colder. This isn't Modu; winter isn't that warm. We also need to prepare energy."
"I know."