Chapter 20: Let Us In Quickly (Second Update)

Speeding along,

Occasionally crushing zombie corpses on the ground, emitting the unpleasant sound of rupturing flesh.

The zombies on the road continued to rush forward, seemingly oblivious to fear.

It was only thanks to the Hongqi HS5's excellent crash resistance and high-strength glass that they could proceed; had it been an ordinary Japanese car, it likely would have shattered after a few impacts.

Throughout the journey, Li Yu was still thinking

What about Liu Weimin and the others?

Should he let them into the base?

If they had ulterior motives, what then?

But if he didn't let them in, that wouldn't work either.

If he refused Liu Weimin, his uncle would likely have some thoughts on the matter.

The base needed more talent, and besides, that woman was quite fierce!

*Sigh, it's difficult.*

Now, the entire world was occupied by zombies; they were everywhere.

In the years since his rebirth, he had never managed to establish an organization of scale.

The larger the city, the larger the population base, and the more zombies there were.

A swarm of a hundred zombies could still be handled by manpower.

A swarm of a thousand could be dealt with by a certain number of people using firearms.

But a swarm of ten thousand was extremely difficult to contend with without a fortified base.

What about swarms of a hundred thousand, a million, or even ten million?

M-City had a population of 25 million; combined with the torrential rains, zombies could even survive in the water.

Fewer than one in a hundred survivors remained.

He had once escaped from M-City. In the world after the rains, sea levels had risen, and many cities were submerged.

Many of the government's important strategic bases had been swallowed by the vast ocean.

Only some higher elevations, such as the plateaus and hills in the north and south, were temporarily safe.

After the apocalypse, human morality had decayed; between people, there was only the exchange of interests.

The lack of unity among people had prevented large-scale bases from being established.

Social order had collapsed, and traditional rites and ethics had crumbled.

Perhaps there were good people, but they were often easily backstabbed, and in the end...

*Sigh.*

He had once been a kind person too.

*Should I save the world?* He thought

To save the world, one would need to expand manpower, expand the base, and manage an organization...

Learning that set of methods: unite all forces that can be united to defeat the enemy.

But now, the mountain of zombies alone was enough to make everyone suffocate.

Moreover, the fundamental circumstances were different

Under the land nationalization system, through great innovation, the millennia-old problem of land annexation had been solved.

Everyone was equal, with land to farm, food to eat, and clothes to wear.

Everyone was united.

But now, even the most basic arable land had been largely submerged, and hundreds of millions of zombies were everywhere.

Without safe land and without united people, there would be no food.

Without enough food, what was there to talk about?

Coupled with the varying motives of different people, the road to saving the world was truly difficult!

*Sigh.* Thinking this far, Li Yu decided not to dwell on it for now.

For the moment, he only wanted to protect his family.

The days before his rebirth had been a living hell, leaving him without kin, struggling to survive alone in the world.

Those days weren't living; they were merely existing. It would have been better to be dead.

At this thought, he slapped his head, instantly clearing his mind.

*To hell with it, I'll take it one step at a time. No use agonizing over it.*

*Keep my wits about me, and if anyone dares to be mischievous, I'll cut them down!*

In the apocalypse, anyone who dared to harm his family would be cut down.

The car continued driving along the road, and they didn't encounter any large zombie swarms.

Meanwhile, at the base, the Second Uncle on the high wall and the village Party Secretary and his group were stuck in an awkward situation.

To save them or not? Li Hongyuan was caught in a moral dilemma.

Li Hongyuan had always been kind to people; once, he had even kindly paid the fare for someone who didn't have enough money.

But the Second Uncle's attitude was very firm: Do not save them!

The Party Secretary below was still standing there, glaring at the Women's Director.

A little girl stood timidly in the center.

She looked like a daisy swaying in the wind and rain.

Her pitiful appearance made both people upstairs feel a pang of reluctance.

At that moment, a young man holding a kitchen knife with a tattoo on his arm spoke up: "Li Hongda, don't think you're something special just because you've been out there for two years. We're all from the same village. If you don't save us, you have no conscience at all!"

The people behind him chimed in one after another.

Just then,

The roar of an engine caught everyone's attention.

Everyone turned to look toward the rear.

Coming toward them were two off-road vehicles, followed closely by a police riot vehicle.

Upon seeing the police vehicle behind, some people cheered, while others had strange looks in their eyes and shrank back.

The tattooed youth, in particular, felt nervous upon seeing the police car, but he steeled himself and said arrogantly, "It's illegal for you not to open the door and save us! Humph!"

The lead vehicle saw the crowd but showed no intention of stopping.

Seeing that the vehicle wasn't slowing down, the Party Secretary and the others felt their hearts sink.

Seeing that the car was about to hit them, everyone scrambled to clear a path.

Finally, the vehicle stopped beneath the gatehouse.

Li Yu unbuckled his seatbelt and stepped out of the car.

He held a submachine gun in his hand.

Following him, people began to disembark from the vehicles one after another.

His uncle and the others watched the scene, unsure of what was happening.

Liu Weimin, who had stepped down from the riot vehicle, also got out.

He looked around both sides with a face full of confusion.

Li Yu said nothing; he had seen these people from a distance.

Without even thinking, he knew exactly what was happening.

He had seen this countless times during the early stages of the apocalypse before his rebirth.

Seeing Li Yu get out of the car, the Party Secretary said joyfully, "Xiao Yu, there are monsters everywhere. We know you're capable and that you built this tourist park. Look, we're all from the same village. Can you let us in?"

Li Yu remained noncommittal and did not answer immediately.

Seeing this, the Party Secretary pulled the little girl forward and pointed at her.

He repeated the words he had directed at the Second Uncle and the others.

Seeing the little girl wearing only one shoe, shivering in the autumn wind, and learning that her entire family was gone and she was now all alone, the people who had just stepped off the cars felt a sense of unease.

Upon hearing this, his uncle Liu Jianwen's mood plummeted from the joy of returning home.

Liu Huamei, in particular, felt her eyes redden instantly upon hearing the girl's tragic story.

Li Yu looked at the little girl; she was barefoot and emaciated. However, the leading Party Secretary and his group were fully clothed with healthy complexions.

Seeing this, Li Yu remained expressionless, intending to say nothing.

Seeing Liu Jianwen in a police uniform, the Party Secretary's mind raced.

He said with a sob, "Xiao Yu, we have no choice. You can't just stand by and watch us die; you can't let us be fed to the zombies."

The villagers behind him also spoke up

"Xiao Yu, please save us."

"Just let us in."

At this time, Liu Jianwen and the Liu father and daughter also seemed to understand the situation.

Liu Weimin stepped forward to question Li Yu, saying indignantly, "Why won't you let them in? Don't you know that so many zombies outside will bite people to death?"

His gaze was filled with intense accusation and questioning. In the apocalypse, shouldn't people help each other?

In his decades of life, he had always helped the weak and punished the wicked; whenever he encountered injustice, he would step in to help, possessed of a strong sense of justice.

Beside him, Liu Huamei looked at him with an expression of deep disappointment.

She had thought that this man was so skilled at killing zombies—he had even saved the three of them just an hour ago.

Why could he risk danger to save them, but not open the door to let these people in?

She did not understand.

(End of Chapter)