Inside the stadium in Yuzhou, Cheng Ke finally breathed a sigh of relief when he learned that the zombies had also contracted the plague. Although his general had contracted the plague, he could receive medical treatment. At least there was no plague spreading on their side, and it wasn't particularly severe. Currently, General Wang's condition was also very good, and he should recover with a period of careful nursing. On the contrary, for the plague, without medicine and without isolation, it would only spread more and more severely!
"I never expected that humans, who found it difficult to wipe out all the zombies, would die because of the plague," Cheng Ke thought to himself.
Cheng Ke didn't have much understanding of plagues before, as he wasn't in that field. Moreover, plagues in China were already a thing of the past. Except for the occasional plague in the grasslands, he had never heard of plagues occurring like this. Although, at the moment the plague first appeared, Cheng Ke thought the entire plan would fail and that recapturing Yuzhou might be impossible.
However, upon learning that the zombies had also contracted the plague, Cheng Ke immediately understood. If the plague was a disaster for humans, then it was also a disaster for zombies. Humans at least knew how to prevent and treat it, but zombies, incapable of even speaking, certainly couldn't cope with the plague. Now, they just needed to wait for the plague to break out among the zombie hordes. Once all the zombies were killed, Yuzhou could be successfully recaptured.
However, as Cheng Ke held this thought, he suddenly received an urgent telegram from headquarters at night: "The zombies in Yuzhou tend to gather. Please be vigilant, Yuzhou army. Prevent the zombies from leaving Yuzhou at all costs. If possible, investigate the location of the Corpse King!"
Cheng Ke quickly inquired about the specific situation and discovered that in three peripheral districts of Yuzhou, hundreds of thousands of zombies had begun to gather. However, these zombies were not moving deeper into the city. Instead, they were gradually moving away from Yuzhou, indicating that the zombies did not intend to stay in Yuzhou any longer and were preparing to flee!
"Didn't you say zombies never flee cities?" Cheng Ke quickly asked. If the zombies really retreated, who could stop them?
Headquarters' answer was simple: "In the past two months, there have indeed been no cases of zombies voluntarily fleeing cities. However, that was usually when the army annihilated the zombies within a few days, and the Corpse King didn't have time to react before the city was recaptured. But in Yuzhou, the battle lasted too long, the Corpse King sensed danger, and due to the spread of the plague, the Corpse King began to flee. This is the first time it has been observed."
"I understand. We will find the Corpse King's location as quickly as possible. Please rest assured," Cheng Ke said, hanging up the phone with a heavy heart.
Previously, Cheng Ke only thought that as long as the zombies stayed in Yuzhou, their only path would be destruction. But now he realized that zombies could also leave cities. In this case, could the plague still have an effect? He seemed to have fallen into a misconception, always believing that zombies would not voluntarily leave cities. Now, with the Corpse King preparing to lead many zombies to evacuate, Cheng Ke was caught completely off guard. If the zombies left Yuzhou, it would undoubtedly be a disaster. They had to prevent this from happening.
Yuzhou's geographical location was too special. To the west lay the Chengdu Plain, a densely populated area. Once entered, it would lead to the destruction of countless cities. To the east, it would flow down the river, threatening cities in central China, and perhaps even the Three Gorges would be in danger. To the south, it seemed to lead only into high mountains and dense forests, posing no significant threat. However, in the future, it would be more than ten times more difficult to eliminate zombies in the mountains.
Currently, Cheng Ke needed to prevent this from happening. If he couldn't, the Corpse King leading millions of zombies would pose a huge threat to humanity in any direction!
Cheng Ke found General Wang in the tent and guiltily explained the current situation. He had confidently stated that he could eliminate the zombies according to the plan, but now it was impossible. The zombies were preparing to leave Yuzhou, and the resulting harm would be particularly severe!
General Wang listened to Cheng Ke's account and remained silent for a long time before saying, "Prepare for a meeting. Let's try to find the possible location of the Corpse King and then make a desperate effort. This is the only way now!"
Cheng Ke looked at General Wang worriedly and asked, "But your body hasn't recovered yet. If you fight the zombies with all your might, you might not be able to hold on."
"The soldiers are people, am I not? Moreover, this is no longer a time for a stable defensive battle. You must know that with one and a half million zombies, if so many zombies leave the city, no matter where they go, it will be a disaster!" General Wang struggled to stand up. Although he was an evolver, his body had not yet recovered, and it required great strength to stand up at this moment.
When General Wang stood up, he was covered in sweat, indicating that he was forcing himself to stand despite his weakened body.
"I understand. I'll gather everyone for a meeting right away!" Cheng Ke said with distress.
Cheng Ke's mood was particularly bad at this moment. When formulating the plan, he thought his plan was foolproof and that he could annihilate all the zombies in Yuzhou with this plan. He just didn't expect the plague to appear unexpectedly. The plague forced his army to be cautious about disease transmission, and the plague actually forced the zombies to leave Yuzhou. Yuzhou could be considered recaptured for now, but was a city full of zombie corpses, where one could easily get infected with the plague, truly considered recaptured?
Reality had dealt Cheng Ke a huge blow. In the past, he was full of ambition, believing that he could recapture a small city with a few people, which was something an excellent general could do. But now, it seemed he wasn't cut out for it. His plan had now posed a threat to the cities in the three surrounding directions. The plan he had made earlier was just a spur-of-the-moment idea, full of loopholes!
At this moment, Cheng Ke had actually lost his confidence. His seemingly perfect plan had completely failed. Although they had killed over two million zombies, the Corpse King had not been found, Yuzhou had not been recaptured, and a huge crisis had been created!
Soon, important personnel from the army were summoned. General Wang sat in his seat and began to explain the current situation. Although sweat was still beading on his forehead, he held on. He wanted to last until the battle was over before collapsing.
"Now, we need to find the possible location of the Corpse King and take the initiative to attack. We must kill the Corpse King and prevent the zombies from leaving Yuzhou!" General Wang declared, setting the tone for the meeting: a desperate fight.
Everyone understood what taking the initiative meant: everyone would charge towards the zombie horde without regard for their lives, meaning they would lose the protection of cover and would have to face the zombies head-on, risking being surrounded by zombies at any moment.
Cheng Ke endured the distress in his heart. Although he was feeling down, the meeting had started, so he still had to voice his opinion: "From the satellite images, the zombies are gathered in two eastern districts and one western district. This means the Corpse King is most likely hiding in these three districts. I suggest we split into three groups, otherwise, it's easy to alert the Corpse King."
Everyone nodded. Splitting into three groups was indeed quite dangerous and could easily lead to being surrounded by zombies, but at this moment, splitting into three groups was the most appropriate course of action.
Staff Officer Li also stepped forward, pointing to the buildings in three of the areas, saying, "Please look here. The buildings here look ordinary, but there are the most mutated zombies around them. This means that these places are the most likely to have the Corpse King. However, I cannot guarantee that the Corpse King is definitely inside!"
The Corpse King encountered by Shen Feng in Luzhou had gathered all the mutated zombies in the city to protect itself, for fear that others would not know the Corpse King was in the hotel. However, the Corpse King in Yuzhou was much more cautious. The mutated zombies never appeared in clusters, making it impossible for the army to determine the Corpse King's location through satellites.
However, even though the Corpse King was hiding quite safely, everyone could still roughly guess its possible locations by observing which buildings the mutated zombies gathered around daily. If they were indeed gathered, it would mean the Corpse King might be inside that building.
In addition, some people observed the mobility of the mutated zombies. They tracked where the mutated zombies passed each day, and dedicated personnel compiled this information, marking these locations. Places that the mutated zombies passed through frequently were also places where the Corpse King was likely to appear.
Finally, the meeting discussed over twenty locations where the Corpse King might exist. After layers of selection and elimination, they finally identified the final ten locations. These ten locations were scattered across the three districts where the zombies were gathered. One area, where 500,000 zombies were gathered, had four highly suspicious locations. The other two districts, each with 200,000 zombies, had three suspicious buildings respectively. These buildings were all massive, either hotels, shopping malls, or office buildings, all of which made it impossible to observe their interiors via satellite.
To make amends for his mistake, Cheng Ke volunteered to go to the district with 500,000 zombies, and he only needed to bring two thousand people, guaranteeing the mission's completion!
General Wang and Staff Officer Li each led two thousand five hundred people to the other two districts. At this moment, everyone knew that the time for a desperate fight was imminent, but they were not afraid. If they retreated, the people would have nowhere to retreat. The plan was about to be implemented, and if they delayed any longer, the Corpse King might lead the zombies to escape.
Before they set off, General Wang found Cheng Ke and shared his thoughts: "Actually, I have a guess as to why the Corpse King has been dispatching zombies to their deaths all this time. I only confirmed it today. I'll tell you now, so you don't have to be constantly in doubt."
Cheng Ke quickly asked for enlightenment: "Why did the Corpse King dispatch zombies to attack?"
During this period, the army had killed over two million zombies. These zombies charged forward as if lining up to be shot. Any intelligent animal would not continue to send itself to its death, but under the Corpse King's control, zombies still attacked the stadium incessantly, which was clearly abnormal behavior.
General Wang slowly revealed his thoughts: "I think the Corpse King's ability to control zombies is not sufficient, and our threat is too great. Therefore, the Corpse King is proactively sending cannon fodder to its death to delay our progress. How many zombies can it control? Fifty thousand? Or one million? There must be a limit, right? What about the zombies it cannot control? Naturally, they are sent to their deaths, to avoid consuming food."
Cheng Ke nodded at this analysis and said, "In that case, the Corpse King doesn't have a particularly complex plan, it's just simply dispatching some uncontrollable zombies to their deaths, using them as cannon fodder to consume bullets!"
General Wang nodded and said seriously, "In fact, humans also dispatch cannon fodder to their deaths, but they don't do it on such a large scale. However, zombies don't care about these things. If they can't be controlled, then they are all sent to their deaths. This also perfectly illustrates that zombies are inhuman. They don't care for their compatriots; they only care about their own survival!"
Cheng Ke nodded, indicating that he had listened to the teachings.
However, at this moment, General Wang said a meaningful sentence: "Failure is not terrifying. What is most terrifying is losing confidence. Once confidence is lost, you will be hesitant even when fighting desperately. Do you understand?"
Cheng Ke nodded, his heart filled with even more guilt. The current predicament was caused by his plan. Although General Wang was encouraging him to persevere, he still couldn't let go of it. At this moment, it only brought a little comfort to his heart.