"Tough life? Heh, maybe so, but aren't you all being a bit too cautious? We aren't armed." Shen Fei also noticed the intense vigilance of Wang Zhi and his group, especially the girl with the knife, who stayed close to Wang Zhi, gripping the hilt tightly, looking ready to draw it at any moment.
"Circumstances demand it, I apologize," Wang Zhi explained.
A while later, Old He and the others returned from searching the refugees, reporting that they found no suspicious items.
Wang Zhi walked over and stared at the survivors lined up in two rows, scrutinizing each one individually. His main objective was to examine their necks. He recalled that Auntie Zi also had an 'N' mark on her neck, and he hoped to find an 'N Organization' member by looking for that mark.
After surveying the group, Wang Zhi did not find the 'N' symbol he was looking for.
"Looking at your attire, your shelter must be quite large, right?" Shen Fei asked Su Muying from the side.
"Indeed, large enough to exceed your imagination," Su Muying replied, showing shen Fei an inscrutable smile.
"Then when do we set off?"
"What? You seem quite anxious? Also, did we ever say we would take you back?" Su Muying said slowly.
"You... what do you mean?" Shen Fei was clearly startled by Su Muying's words, staggering back a few steps as he asked.
"Heh heh, just kidding! We wouldn't travel such a long distance just to plunder your scrap metal," Su Muying chuckled.
"That wasn't funny at all," Shen Fei managed a weak smile.
"Sister Ying, don't you think Shen Fei is very suspicious?" After Shen Fei left, Fatty leaned in and asked.
"You think so too?" Su Muying raised an eyebrow and asked.
"Yes, extremely suspicious!" Fatty confirmed.
"If even you think he's highly suspicious, do you really think the N Organization would send such a blockhead to be a mole?" Ying said without hesitation, crushing his spirits.
"You can't say that! I have some intelligence, you know?" Fatty protested, feeling wronged.
"But he really doesn't seem problematic," Su Muying stated seriously.
"Huh? Sister Ying, how did you determine he was fine?" Fatty asked as he followed behind Su Muying.
"Did you think I was just mindlessly scaring him just now?"
"Uh... I did think that was just your mischievous nature," Fatty scratched his head.
"Details determine success or failure. I genuinely intended to kill him just now, and his first reaction wasn't to protect himself, but those people," Su Muying pointed toward the women and children.
"You could even tell that?" Fatty looked somewhat puzzled.
"He stepped back not because he was worried about himself, but to put his own body in front of those people. Do you think that subconscious action belongs to someone from the N Organization?" Su Muying explained.
"Now that you mention it, it does seem like that's the case," Fatty nodded thoughtfully.
After repeated confirmation by everyone, and finding no further doubts, Wang Zhi decided to take these survivors back to Dawn City.
"Can your vehicle be used?" Wang Zhi asked Shen Fei, approaching him.
"It can be used, but there isn't much fuel left," Shen Fei replied.
"it's fine, as long as it can run. Fuel isn't the problem." Wang Zhi walked over to the small truck and inspected it for a moment. By squeezing in the truck bed, it could probably accommodate twenty people.
"Take your supplies; we can leave now," Wang Zhi said calmly to Shen Fei.
"Fatty, go drive that vehicle," Wang Zhi pointed toward the small truck inside the building.
"Old He, Old Duan, you two get in the truck bed and watch those people. Qin Sheng, you take the front passenger seat." After Fatty drove the vehicle out, Wang Zhi instructed the group.
"Let the women and children board first. The rest of you, walk behind us," Duan He shouted to the survivors from the truck bed.
These survivors, each carrying some rice and water bottles, began to board the truck. Duan He then re-examined the supplies in their hands for any dangerous items.
The small truck was packed full with twelve children and nine women, plus Duan He.
The remaining fifteen men and seventeen women followed on foot.
The supplies these people carried were meager, especially water. Seeing everything they possessed, Wang Zhi was certain that without finding a water source, with so many people, someone would collapse within two days. It was no wonder they risked their lives to follow them back to Dawn City.
In the Apocalypse, who would trust strangers unless they were truly cornered?
The group walked slowly following the small truck for a while, finally reaching the location where they had previously parked their vehicles.
Wang Zhi's SUV could hold a maximum of five people inside. Including themselves, they totaled thirty-eight people, meaning nineteen people were required for the bed of each truck.
But this capacity was impossible; their truck beds could only hold a maximum of twelve people each.
Everyone fell into difficulty for a moment. Finally, a few leaders decided to have the survivors abandon all supplies except water, and if they squeezed hard, they could still barely fit.
"How can we do that? This is our last bit of food," one woman protested.
"We won't lack this much food once we arrive. The current problem is that we cannot fit everyone. Do you intend to stay behind and give your spot to someone else?" Wang Zhi said, fixing the woman with a cold glare.
Hearing Wang Zhi's words, the woman immediately dropped the food she was holding and ceased protesting.
In an instant, pots, pans, and even weapons were tossed onto the road, and everyone, empty-handed, crammed into the beds of the three vehicles.
Along the way, Wang Zhi and his team refilled the vehicles with gasoline; the overloaded state caused their fuel consumption to increase significantly.
Especially during acceleration, Wang Zhi felt the fuel gauge drop by a small amount.
"Now those twenty-five thousand Survival Points are secured," Su Muying leaned against the passenger seat, continuing to play the music from the USB drive.
"Hey, hey, Captain Wang, drive a bit slower! I really don't dare drive this vehicle over 30; it's too terrifying," Fatty said over the radio, glancing at the truck bed packed full of people in the rearview mirror.
"Don't worry, we won't lose you," Wang Zhi replied, slowing the vehicle down.
...
Dawn City, City Lord's Palace.
"City Lord, please come over here quickly, we have detected an unknown signal!"
Jie Xi's communication device on her desk suddenly rang, and she immediately stood up and headed toward the Command Department.
"What's the situation?" Jie Xi hurried into the Command Department and asked.
"City Lord, look quickly, this is an unknown signal source. We cannot detect its origin; it seems the other party is intentionally shielding it. Should we connect?"
Inside the Command Department sat several personnel wearing Dawn City uniforms, all busy wearing monitoring headphones.
"Shielding our signal source? Connect the call."
"Understood."
After some maneuvering, Dawn City connected to the unknown signal.
"Hello there! You lucky ones," a soft, somewhat feminine voice came through the headset.
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