"Old Zhang, Old Xu! This isn't my team, so I'm afraid you can't just take things!"

To the bald man and the fat man's surprise, Jin Yuan frowned upon hearing their words and directly refused.

"Don't be like that. These brothers are still by your side; how can they not be your team? Besides, you followed us back to the city, right? You definitely contributed, so you deserve a share of the resources. No one can say anything if we take a little!"

Old Xu looked at Old Zhang and said with a smile.

"Jin Yuan did contribute a lot, even becoming the captain of our combat team!"

At this moment, Hong Li spoke, staring coldly at the two men, "But it was Jin Yuan who contributed, what does it have to do with you two? Didn't you choose to leave back then?"

"Tch! What's our relationship with Little Jin? His is ours! No difference!"

Old Xu waved his hand, speaking without any trace of courtesy.

"Then I'm really sorry, but to us, there is a difference. This is our team's resources. Even if Jin Yuan wants to use them, he has to wait until everything is in storage first. As for you… hehe, you're not even part of our team, so you're not qualified to use our resources!"

Hong Li said unceremoniously, then pointed to the factory, "Besides, this factory is ours too. Do you think you can just walk in whenever you want?"

"What?"

Old Xu and Old Chen were stunned upon hearing this, then became furious. Together, they looked at Jin Yuan, and Old Chen shouted, "Little Jin! We risked our lives together to leave the city back then, and now this guy is talking to us like this? You kick him out right now, and we can help you manage this team, manage this factory!"

"That's right!"

Old Xu echoed, "You should know that we're definitely reliable managers. You won't have to worry about anything. Just focus on killing zombies, and we'll take care of everything else. We'll make sure the resources are distributed fairly, and no one can easily get their hands on them!"

"We risked our lives together?"

This time, before Hong Li could speak, Jin Yuan himself suddenly laughed. He looked at Old Chen and Old Xu, "Shouldn't it be we ventured out of the city together, and I and these guys were the ones risking our lives? Weren't you… always in the convoy, managing the food and water?"

"That… that's division of labor! The things we risked our lives to retrieve, of course we have to guard them carefully. In this world, the most important things are food and water!"

Old Chen and Old Xu's expressions faltered, then Old Xu was the first to react and quickly explained, "Besides, no matter what, we're still a team, right?"

"No! When you left before, we were no longer teammates. My teammates now are them!"

Jin Yuan shook his head, then looked at the few cars behind Old Chen and Old Xu, and the frightened people inside. He suddenly asked, "What kind of monster did you encounter? Was it very powerful?"

"Of course, it was powerful, otherwise, we wouldn't have lost…"

Old Chen answered subconsciously but was then silenced by Old Xu, who immediately realized what he said and stared at Jin Yuan with wide eyes.

"You're wondering how I guessed you encountered a monster?"

Jin Yuan said, "It's actually very simple. Just now, when you were talking about food and water, I suddenly remembered that those things are like money to you, even to the point where I, the one who leads people to retrieve those things, have a hard time getting a bottle of water from you. How could you possibly give up such a large truckload of food and water easily?

So, there's only one answer: you had to abandon it. Those who disappeared definitely wouldn't do that. Plus, when you came over just now, you looked like you were fleeing. So, I knew that you must have encountered some creature you didn't dare to confront – not zombies, but mutated beasts!"

Hearing Jin Yuan's words, Old Chen and Old Xu exchanged a glance. Then Old Chen said, "That's right! You guessed correctly. We encountered mutated beasts. Old Wang's truck was the first to be attacked, and blood splattered all over the driver's cabin. Then, the bus behind him was attacked. At least three mutated rats rushed inside."

"So, you abandoned them and hurried back?"

Hearing this, anger flickered on Jin Yuan's face. Of all the people who left, the truck driver Old Wang and his son were the only ones who had fought alongside Jin Yuan. He didn't expect them to be dead now.

"Hmph! Those were mutated rats. You weren't there. Even if we went up, we would be throwing our lives away. Besides, the people on that bus left with us, but they weren't our people. We had no obligation to risk our lives to rescue them!"

Old Chen said righteously, "Now that you know, I'll be frank with you. Now, this road leads back to the city on this side, and mutated rats on that side. That way is a dead end. So, whether you agree or not, we have to stay here. This factory isn't yours. If we're talking about first come, first served, then we passed by here first! You're the ones who should leave!"

"Hahahaha! That's right, we passed by here first, so this is our territory!"

Old Chen's words seemed to inspire Old Xu, and he immediately laughed, "We're not as stingy as you. So, you can stay, but you must hand over all your supplies to us for management and distribution.

Also, you have to listen to us about where you live. Of course, we'll arrange a place for you to live that's big enough. How about it? Little Jin, I, Old Xu, am being fair enough, right?"

"How many mutated rats did you say there were? How far away are they?"

Just then, Li Chenzhou, who had been watching coldly from the sidelines, suddenly asked.

Rats are social animals, that's true. But for rats to become mutated beasts, the first thing they have to do is devour their companions and obtain the energy of the hellsilk threads in their bodies, just like the mutated hamster that still brings back vivid memories for Gray Bear.

So, generally speaking, mutated creatures don't appear in groups unless, after the apocalypse, there are enough other creatures around them for them to devour, like the three crocodiles in the pet market.

Those three crocodiles didn't have to kill each other because there were many other creatures around them. In fact, because they were of the same species, they could unite to kill other animals. Therefore, instead of killing each other, they gathered together.

And just now, Li Chenzhou heard from the fat man and the bald man that the mutated rats that attacked their convoy weren't just one, but at least four or more. He couldn't help but feel a little worried, so he asked.

What Li Chenzhou was afraid of wasn't three or four mutated rats, but a mutated rat swarm…