"Ah... woof..."
After listening to the man with the surname Huang, Leizi let out a strange cry, shook his neck, like a shiver after peeing, tilted his shoulder and said, "Boss has always been forward-thinking, I get it now!"
With that, he walked over to Cao Duoliang, grabbed Cao’s messy hair, then threw him aside and said angrily, "You want to leave? Fine, strip naked for me!"
"Huh? Strip... eh, alright, alright!"
Upon hearing Leizi’s demand, Cao Duoliang felt like his brain shrank, thinking to himself, why would you be interested in an old man like me? However, he instinctively agreed, his actions slower than his awareness, as he hurried to unzip and take off his clothes.
"Hurry up and get lost, don’t dirty my eyes!"
Seeing Cao Duoliang had only taken off his coat and was about to remove his pants, the man with the surname Huang kicked him, causing him to stagger.
"Alright, alright, I’ll leave, I’ll leave."
With his pants halfway down, caught on his thighs, Cao Duoliang fell to the ground without time to shout in pain, pulling up his pants as he ran, not forgetting to nod and bow to the people guarding the door, meticulous in the details.
"Hahaha, old fart, yah, yah, run faster..."
Seeing Cao Duoliang flee as if he were a stray dog, Leizi was ecstatic, imitating horse-riding gestures and shouting. When Cao Duoliang ran out the door, he waved his hand towards the crowd: "You cattle and horses, it’s your turn to move!"
Cao Duoliang didn’t dare to stop for a moment in his hasty escape, gasping for air as he ran out of the auto park onto the main road, his breath visible in the cold, hearing the low moans of zombies nearby. He turned his head to see a zombie sandwiched between two cars and, without hesitating, sprinted along the road.
Only after turning a corner did he dare to slow down and catch his breath. He looked back at the towering "Tongrui Auto Park" sign, feeling a pang of sadness in his heart.
He had been with the Apocalypse Corps for almost two months, previously working as a cold dish chef in a restaurant’s back kitchen, not a professional spy by any means. Spending so much time together, he had developed feelings for the brothers in the Apocalypse Corps. If not for today’s events, it would have been challenging to cut ties with the Little Eagle Association...
"Sigh, I can’t save you all, but to die with you, I’m really scared, I’m really... worthless!"
Cao Duoliang slapped himself four or five times, his cold cheeks turning red. Before he could continue to wallow in self-pity, a chaotic noise arose not far away. He turned his head to see the door of the steel-paneled garbage shack opening for some unknown reason, and over a dozen zombies were coming out one after another.
This was a small trap set by the Apocalypse Corps, designed to snare the Little Eagle Association. The cold had likely made the plastic sealing the door brittle, and hearing noise, the zombies had inadvertently burst out.
"Just my luck!"
Unarmed, Cao Duoliang could handle one or two zombies, but over a dozen was too much, especially since he wasn’t in the mood to tangle with zombies now. He just wanted to return to the Little Eagle Association quickly; the earlier scare had nearly killed him.
After checking his direction, Cao Duoliang took off running, luck on his side. After only a few steps, he spotted a cool scooter lying by the roadside—not the kind kids use, but an adult’s mode of transportation, with wheels larger than palms, solid tires, and a battery and motor.
"Heaven helps me too!"
Before the disaster, Cao Duoliang had played with something similar while looking after his grandson. He was fairly good at it, so without hesitation, he picked up the dirty old scooter. The battery was surely dead, and even if it had power, he had no key. With a running start, he was off, much faster than running, and importantly, it saved his energy!
"Hahaha, Heaven hasn’t abandoned me!"
He was almost moved to tears, as the pursuing zombies fell far behind, his speed lightning-quick. Unfortunately, he wore no coat, with chilly wind whooshing into his sweater, his old bones nearly frozen stiff.
...
"Hello, hello? You’re asking for too much stuff, can you hear me?"
At Xinglong Garden, inside Xinglong Kindergarten, Ma Xiyu stood on the colorful rooftop, frowning.
"Damn it, what’s going on!"
Ma Xiyu had said a lot but received no response. He repeatedly checked his walkie-talkie, finding no issues, so the problem must be on the other side.
"Brother Xiyu, have the Absolute Justice folks gone rabid or something, to dare storm into the city and wipe out the Apocalypse Corps..."
"Yeah, the Auto Park was practically ours, and they snatched it away, damn it!"
Beside him, two subordinates were quite displeased. After months of outwitting and outmaneuvering the Apocalypse Corps, they almost felt a mutual respect. Suddenly being wiped out, they spoke harshly, but inwardly felt the chill of their own vulnerability.
Ma Xiyu frowned, clipped the walkie-talkie to his chest, and pulled out another one: "Lion Head, any updates on your end?"
Xinglong Garden was a very upscale community, with the tallest building only eight stories high, all duplex villas, too short for a lookout. So the watchpost facing Northwest was set atop a thirty-two-story building in the opposite community.
"No updates... Brother Xiyu, what’s up?"
Lion Head, with a full beard, didn’t look very old, at most around thirty, but his beard made him seem particularly worn and sloppy.
"Look carefully, stop looking at those lewd magazines!"
Ma Xiyu reminded him irritably. Why was he called Lion Head? Because his hair was all yellow.
"No, I didn’t bring any... really, there’s nothing going on, Brother Xiyu, what are you expecting?" Lion Head felt wronged.
"Never mind, just stay alert!"
Ma Xiyu worriedly wanted to send someone to scout the Auto Park, but currently, the Little Eagle Association was also in a phase of internal vulnerability, making it difficult to allocate personnel.
"Brother Xiyu, are we going to the Development Zone to redeem people?"
A brother asked, knowing it was a matter of personal interest, as anyone could face the same situation one day. No one wanted to be abandoned.
Ma Xiyu knew what the people around him were thinking and nodded firmly: "Yes, of course we’re going. Once Director Liu returns, we’ll gather the men and storm over there. Those Absolute Justice bastards have gotten too arrogant; it’s time to put an end to their stupidity!"
Though he said so, Ma Xiyu knew Cao Duoliang’s chances were slim because Director Liu was busy up north seizing resources and had no time to care about a spy’s life or death.
"Exactly, damn it, why run into the city instead of staying in the Development Zone? In my opinion, Leader Liao shouldn’t advocate expanding north..."
"Do you have a death wish? Keep your trap shut, what you have is a mouth, not a magpie, control it!"
Ma Xiyu glared at his subordinate; not all information could be leaked to Ordinary Members, as it might lead to unforeseen consequences.
The subordinate quickly covered his mouth, knowing some information shouldn’t reach ordinary members, or it could cause a series of unforeseen consequences.
"But... Brother Xiyu, those bastards in the Development Zone are really too much. If we don’t think of something, conflicts will inevitable occur!"
"Will occur? Is there a need to talk about the future?"
Ma Xiyu was silently frustrated. They were already at loggerheads with Absolute Justice because once the Apocalypse Corps was wiped out, there would be no other forces between the Little Eagle Association and the Development Zone, and a confrontation was inevitable!
"I’ll study the Absolute Justice situation, you guys get busy!"
Not in the mood to listen to his subordinates’ bragging, he patted them on the shoulder and headed downstairs.