Yang Ye was very dissatisfied with Tu Xuhuai's so-called segmentation method and directly said, "You talk a good game now, but who can do the segmentation? It's too dangerous in the city. Clearly, segmenting the roads is tantamount to seeking death. The so-called segmentation is unfeasible from the start."
Tu Xuhuai volunteered, "I proposed the segmentation method, so I can personally lead people to segment the roads. Of course, I hope the会长 can approve ten evolution potions for me. I will select ten people from the survivors to carry out the segmentation operation."
Yang Chang was anxious upon hearing this and quickly said, "会长, you can't approve this. Don't forget Ren Jing. I'm not saying Mr. Tu will betray us, but evolution potions must be chosen with extreme caution, especially when selecting from the survivors. It's simply too exaggerated. Who knows if these ten selected people are loyal?"
Tu Xuhuai looked at Shen Feng and said seriously, "会长, please believe me. I simply hope that the plan to retake Luzhou proceeds smoothly, not to risk everything in one go. Since a safer method is available, why not use it?"
Chang Jianyi sat beside Shen Feng and heard the plan. She whispered, "If this suggestion is truly adopted, it would entail the risk of betrayal. However, this segmentation plan is indeed very suitable. It can gradually retake Luzhou and avoid a direct confrontation with hundreds of thousands of zombies."
Everyone's gaze was focused on Shen Feng, waiting for the会长 to make a decision. They all wanted to know if the会长 would agree to Tu Xuhuai's suggestion. Currently, only the会长 held the evolution potions. If they were truly given to Tu Xuhuai, wouldn't that mean Tu Xuhuai would have ten evolved individuals as his subordinates, thus giving him immense power?
Under everyone's gaze, Shen Feng slowly stood up and said, "I will give you twenty evolution potions, but you can only select people from the combat team. The survivors are a mixed bag, which is not conducive to management. This should be acceptable, right?"
Tu Xuhuai showed a humble smile and replied, "Of course, it's acceptable. Rather, please look forward to my performance. I will not disappoint!"
Seeing that the plan was finalized, Shen Feng announced loudly, "Everyone, starting tomorrow, we will engage in a protracted battle. We don't know how long it will take to eliminate the zombies, nor how much danger is hidden within the city of Luzhou, nor how long the zombies will exist. All I know is that as long as we persevere, we will surely win. Let us all strive together and fight for a better tomorrow!"
As his words fell, everyone stood up and began to applaud. Now, they were the sole rescue force in Luzhou. As long as they could defeat the zombies, they would be remembered in history, and they would become the masters of Luzhou in the future! Therefore, this was not just about reclaiming their Luzhou, but also about striving for their future prospects.
After the meeting, Shen Feng and Chang Jianyi returned to their room side by side. Their rooms were located inside the dam, so there were no concerns about electricity or shelter from the elements. Important items like evolution potions were kept in the refrigerator, as the essence of evolution potions was viral protein, and refrigeration could preserve them for a longer time.
At this moment, there were still over fifty evolution potions in the refrigerator. Shen Feng reached out, took one, opened the stopper, and drank it down. The taste was similar to raw eggs. Shen Feng was curious if he could gain even greater strength or better utilize his abilities if he continued to evolve. However, he had already consumed over a dozen evolution potions recently without feeling any sense of evolution. This meant that the viral protein required for the next evolution would be substantial.
In the past few days, all the mutated zombies killed by Shen Feng had been brought back, and Chang Jianyi had found excellent students from the pharmacology department to produce evolution potions according to the steps. Thus, over the past few days, fifty evolution potions had been accumulated. These potions were intended as the highest rewards, but for Shen Feng, he could drink them whenever he pleased.
"Senior sister, the battle starts tomorrow. Are you nervous?" Shen Feng asked with a smile as he sat on the bed.
Chang Jianyi smiled and replied, "As long as you are by my side, I am absolutely not nervous. But after you leave my side, I am nervous every moment. I am always worried about you. Only when I hear news of your safety can my heart find peace for a brief moment."
Shen Feng was deeply moved by her words and couldn't help but embrace Chang Jianyi and kiss her. "Senior sister, you are so good."
"You're still saying such things now. Hurry up and rest. Don't overthink things," Chang Jianyi said with a smile.
Shen Feng took out twenty potions from the refrigerator and said, "I'll deliver the potions to Tu Xuhuai first. You sleep first, I'll be right back."
Chang Jianyi watched Shen Feng's departing back and suddenly felt a palpitation, as if she had a premonition that something ominous would occur.
...
When morning arrived, people in the base were preparing breakfast. Yang Ye was in the control room, directing workers to close the gates of the dam. As the command was issued, the gates were slowly closed, and the water in the artificially excavated waterway gradually receded. It was estimated that by noon, most of the water in the waterway would have drained away.
Tu Xuhuai set off with the twenty selected individuals. They were all chosen from the combat team, and several of them were specifically placed there by Shen Feng. If Tu Xuhuai dared to betray them, these individuals would be like Zhuge Liang's Ma Dai, ready to strike from behind at any moment.
At this time, Shen Feng convened the members of the Self-Aid Association's combat team and announced the upcoming plan. When everyone heard that they were officially going to retake Luzhou, they were all excited. Most of the people who joined the combat team harbored deep hatred for the zombies. Many of their relatives and friends had been killed by zombies, or had directly turned into zombies. Therefore, the culprits responsible for all this had to be eliminated.
Everyone yearned to return to the peaceful and stable era of the past, rather than being displaced like they were now.
Chang Jianyi offered a suggestion at this time: "Besides the members of the Self-Aid Association, the survivors should also participate in this operation. We can't just feed them for free."
Shen Feng agreed with this wholeheartedly and subsequently announced that all adult survivors would have to participate. They would not be required to fight, but they must complete tasks such as transporting supplies and building fortifications. As for the children, they were to stay safely within the base. After this announcement, there was not much backlash from the survivors, as many of them had already participated in transporting supplies before. Now, they were merely continuing their work and not being asked to fight, so there was nothing to complain about.
After Tu Xuhuai set off with his men, they did not proceed along the normal roads. After all, the city was filled with zombies, and even if they were all evolved individuals, they would certainly not be a match for these zombies. Tu Xuhuai chose to advance across the rooftops. While his group naturally did not possess Shen Feng's speed, Tu Xuhuai's chosen path was meticulously planned, starting with low-rise buildings. The distance between these buildings was very small, and since they were all evolved individuals, a simple leap could get them across. Therefore, as long as they advanced on the rooftops, they would not encounter significant danger.
Tu Xuhuai looked at the group following him and felt quite pleased. In reality, he knew very well that Shen Feng would not allow him to freely choose his companions. Therefore, Tu Xuhuai had long since arranged for his close associates to join the combat team. This way, he could select suitable personnel from the combat team, and these individuals, after becoming his helpers, would undoubtedly play a significant role. Apart from the members of the combat team, he now had the most evolved individuals under his command.
"Fortune favors the bold; my opportunity has arrived!" Tu Xuhuai thought to himself.
Tu Xuhuai was not a fool, nor was he a sage who cared about the world. He was not going to risk his life to retake Luzhou. He had simply spotted an opportunity and decided to place his bet. He recognized that Shen Feng needed someone to undertake dangerous tasks at this moment, and by stepping forward, he could seize the opportunity to propose conditions. The twenty evolved individuals as his subordinates were his gains. Moreover, as long as the mission was completed, he would become the most prestigious person in the advisory group.
"Luzhou will definitely be recaptured, so if I want to earn merit, it has to be now!" Tu Xuhuai thought to himself.
The task of segmenting the battlefield might seem extremely dangerous, but Tu Xuhuai did not think so. As long as the appropriate routes were chosen, they could utilize the already congested traffic in the city. For example, cars on the road could be moved slightly to block the roads.
Tu Xuhuai quickly found the key locations for segmenting the battlefield. This was a commercial center, but cars had already blocked the surrounding roads. There were at least several thousand zombies wandering the streets. Two roads led to the Yangtze River. As long as these two roads were blocked, the nearby zombies would not be able to reach the Yangtze River, and the area around the Yangtze River was the first target for the Self-Aid Association.
"I'll take ten people to attract the nearby zombies, and the rest will immediately go down and move the cars to block the roads. If that doesn't work, they can climb up to the buildings. Except for speed-type zombies, other zombies cannot climb buildings," Tu Xuhuai said with a smile.
"We'll go with you," two of the individuals placed within the team suddenly said. As loyal followers of Shen Feng, they were very worried that Tu Xuhuai might find an excuse to escape, so even for tasks like attracting zombies, they were determined to follow and keep an eye on him.
Tu Xuhuai had no objections and set off with these two. He knew that Shen Feng had placed people within the team, but he did not intend to expose them. After all, he needed to continue working with Shen Feng in the future, and exposing them would make things awkward for everyone.
Subsequently, Tu Xuhuai successfully led his men to attract the zombies' attention, while the remaining ten people, after the zombies briefly left the intersection, forcibly moved vehicles to block the main traffic arteries.
After performing this action seven times, Tu Xuhuai successfully blocked three sealed-off areas. As long as the zombies within the city could be successfully segmented, they could be dealt with in batches through a step-by-step approach. Tu Xuhuai intended to continue this method, aiming to divide the zombies by region.
However, when Tu Xuhuai moved to a different area to operate, he discovered something was wrong. This part of the city was too quiet, so quiet that there was no sound at all. Despite the large number of zombies on the street, they were standing still, as if they had all fallen into hibernation!
"Everyone stop. Something is not right here. These zombies are too quiet," Tu Xuhuai said, looking at the numerous zombies on the street. A sense of unease suddenly arose in his heart, because zombies would not inexplicably stand still. Even if they were hibernating, they wouldn't all fall into hibernation together, would they?
A person beside Tu Xuhuai whispered, "Sir, should we try to test these zombies below?"
Hearing this suggestion, Tu Xuhuai nodded slightly and said, "This is the only way now. Let's test the movements of these zombies and see if they have indeed entered hibernation."
After speaking, Tu Xuhuai looked around on the rooftop and found a pile of flowerpots. These flowerpots had not been cared for, and many had already withered. Tu Xuhuai picked up a pot of flowers and threw it down. With a loud "crash," the sharp sound echoed through the silent street.
Everyone believed that once they started making artificial noises, the zombies on the street would awaken from their hibernation and might even discover them and come chasing after them. However, after the flowerpot was thrown onto the street, the zombies showed no reaction, remaining completely indifferent, as if they were dead.
The street remained deathly silent, and the zombies made no movement, as if the sound of the flowerpot landing had not disturbed them at all.
Seeing that the zombies still showed no movement, Tu Xuhuai began to feel scared. Could it be that something even more terrifying had appeared in the urban area? So, he continued to order, "Keep throwing the flowerpots and see what's going on with these zombies!"
Upon hearing this command, everyone quickly began moving flowerpots and smashing them down. They were on the fifth floor. Throwing things from above would have been punished before, but in this current state of societal disorder, who would care? They threw down more than a dozen flowerpots until all the flowerpots on the rooftop were gone. Unfortunately, the zombies on the street still showed no movement, which was extremely bizarre.
A flowerpot thrown by one of them hit a zombie. The zombie's head was smashed, and it instantly fell to the ground, seemingly dead. However, even so, this zombie remained motionless, as if it had become obsessed with playing "Red Light, Green Light."
"Let's go back, immediately! Tell the会长 about this!" Tu Xuhuai made an immediate decision. The current situation was clearly not right. It was likely that there had been a mutation among the zombies, so things had exceeded expectations. At this point, the only thing to do was to inform the会长 and let him handle it.
Before this, Tu Xuhuai had never encountered a similar situation. The zombies were standing still in their places, as if they were dead, but it was clear that these zombies were still alive, just that their ability to move had been lost, as if they had been forcibly ordered to stay there.
Tu Xuhuai also understood that his plan to segment the battlefield had been aborted. Although the plan was halfway completed, its completion rate was entirely unsatisfactory. However, he was also helpless. The plans he proposed were formulated based on the information he had obtained, but no one had anticipated such a sudden change among the zombies, leading to the plan's failure.