Chapter Seventy-Nine: The Bait

“What did you mean earlier when you said you’d changed gathering zones three times?” I occasionally asked Gao Yi for information. “Is there anything useful you know about them?”

Gao Yi considered for a moment before speaking. “The first gathering zone I stayed in had about a hundred people, but it was in a remote little town with no natural or particularly sturdy defenses. Later, a Nightmare Beast wandered over with several hundred corpses in tow, and the entire place was wiped out.”

“Go on,” I prompted.

“The second gathering zone—I just couldn’t stay. What they did crossed my bottom line. I couldn’t stand it, but didn’t want to become their enemy either, so I slipped away on my own. We just weren’t the same kind of people.”

I chuckled. “Didn’t expect you to be so principled. In this post-apocalyptic age, people like you are rare. Most folks are just grateful to survive by any means.”

He sighed. “I understand what you mean, Captain Cao, I really do. But I just couldn’t get past that barrier in my heart. They kept those weak, useless survivors around, and when they ran out of food, they ate human flesh. I stumbled onto their secret by accident, then snuck away. They killed for meat but made sure their own people didn’t find out. It’s ridiculous—nearly a thousand people in that gathering zone, and they all thought they were eating animal meat. After escaping, I ended up at the zone that tried to intercept you and your wife. Those people weren’t exactly upstanding either, but at least they weren’t that twisted. Mostly just banditry, which I could tolerate for a time, so I stayed with them for a while.”

“But I wasn’t there long, less than a month, and I never felt like I belonged. They treated me as nothing more than muscle and a human shield because of my exoskeleton and size. Every time there was a dangerous mission, I was sent in first.”

“Nowhere feels as good as being with the team… But now the team’s gone, communications are cut off, and I just have to muddle through. But meeting you, Captain Cao, gives me a sense of direction. From now on, I’m with you—wherever you lead, I’ll follow without question!”

After he finished, Gao Yi stared at me unblinking. Through the rearview mirror, I could see the hope shining in his eyes.

I smiled. “I’ve got no objections. I just happen to be short on people right now. If I do rebuild a team, quality’s more important than quantity, and you seem like a perfect fit. So, for now, you can stick with me. But let’s be clear: staying with me means you’ll likely be charging into danger. With your build, no one is better suited for it.”

“That’s nothing! I’d be more than happy to storm ahead for Captain Cao!” he replied enthusiastically.

…

“Brother Cao… something’s not right. Why haven’t we seen a single corpse out here? Normally, we’d run into at least a few wanderers,” Huo Bing said, voicing her doubts as we approached the entrance to the Lonely Land gathering zone. We hadn’t encountered a single corpse along the way.

We parked by the iron fence at the edge of the zone, and the three of us, plus the dog, got out.

“Don’t overthink it. The priority is to get inside and see what’s going on. No corpses outside is good—at least we don’t have to worry about being attacked from both sides.” I strapped my titanium blade securely and loaded the pistol at my waist.

Seeing me prepare, Gao Yi and Huo Bing got ready too—one adjusting his rifle, the other donning her exoskeleton.

“Attacked from both sides… Brother Cao, you mean inside is already…” Huo Bing’s voice trembled in my ear.

All I could do was try to comfort her. “Stay calm. We haven’t gone in yet. No one knows what the situation is. Don’t let your emotions override your reason.”

She nodded, then walked to the camera mounted on a tree by the gate and waved. But after two minutes, nothing happened.

My heart grew heavier. Without hesitation, I raised my blade and hacked a few gaps into the iron gate.

“Captain Cao, your blade is really sharp. I doubt even my exoskeleton could withstand a blow like that,” Gao Yi exclaimed admiringly.

With the help of his exoskeleton, he could easily tear open a hole in the gate, but nothing as neat as what the blade could do.

I laughed. “Weapons are just tools—you have to be comfortable with them. In the end, you have to rely on yourself.”

With that, I grabbed the gate with both hands and pulled, warping it out of shape.

The gate was now utterly useless; it offered no resistance at all.

Gao Yi swallowed beside me, but the big guy said nothing this time.

“Can you open the gathering zone’s main hydraulic gate?” I asked, standing before it. This was the real challenge. Compared to this, the outer iron gate was like a child’s arm next to an elephant’s leg.

I had to admit, Old Fox Huo Tian had chosen his gathering zone well. Its natural defenses were formidable. Unless there was turmoil inside, it was nearly impossible to break in from the outside.

Normally, once the first gate was unlocked, someone inside would open this second one.

But now, with no response, it was clear that a major crisis had unfolded within. Otherwise, they’d have opened it by now.

“I’ll try. As long as it still has power, I can open it,” Huo Bing said urgently, pulling out her device.

Her hands shook so much the instrument nearly slipped from her grasp.

I placed my hand on her shoulder. She glanced at me, took a deep breath, and forced herself to calm down.

Beep, beep, beep—

The difficulty of unlocking this door wasn’t much different from the control room at the chemical plant; we waited quite a while before finally hearing the slow hiss of the hydraulics.

Sss—

As the thick hydraulic door began to open, a familiar screech echoed from within—the same sound I’d heard once before, in the armory watchtower.

“Get ready for combat. Corpses might charge out. If things get out of hand… we retreat!”

“No, Brother Cao, I have to find my father…”

“If the inside hasn’t completely fallen, we’ll go in and search. But if it’s crawling with corpses, we leave. We can’t act recklessly.”

A struggle played out on Huo Bing’s delicate face, but at last, she nodded silently.

The door was fully open.

A dim yellow light still glowed on the wall, though some circuits had shorted and spat sparks.

Fortunately, it wasn’t a horde of corpses at the entrance; at least the path wasn’t blocked.

“Move! Gao Yi, you’re with me up front; Bing, you cover the rear. Maintain an inverted triangle formation!”

“Understood!” Gao Yi quickly replied, fully armed, striding shoulder to shoulder with me.

Upon entering Lonely Land, the first area we passed was the parking lot, followed by the open zone and the residential section.

“Just as I thought... things have spiraled out of control...” I murmured, watching a dozen corpses wandering the parking area.