Chapter 1034 The Disappearance of the Eastern Theater
Every movement of Du Wu was filled with a strong sense of crushing. His burly body, nearly 2 meters tall, was incredibly agile in the alley. He used his shoulder armor to knock away the broken wall blocking his way, his knees to crush the mutant's limbs, and even the air was shaking when he chopped with his sword.
"Du Wu, stop pretending, and make this a quick fight!"
Watching the 'Crystal Warrior' Du Wu rushing towards the third catfish mutant, Du Yuming couldn't help but shout in the internal communication system.
Today's third-generation crystal energy recovery device is no longer as short and weak as before after the Zhongzhou Theater Equipment Department invested a lot of R&D resources and carried out multiple technical iterations. However, it is not so abundant that it can be consumed at will, especially in this situation where there is no stable supply.
Compared to the crude first generation, the third generation crystal energy recovery device is larger, more protective, has a higher energy capacity, and causes less harm to the human body. The only drawback is that it has become very "picky".
High-purity crystal blocks must be purified using a special process to be used as energy. This purification and production process is now classified as top secret in the Zhongzhou War Zone. Only the core project team of "Crystal Energy Warrior" has mastered the production technology of such crystal blocks.
If substandard crystal blocks were used to power the third-generation energy recovery device, the Crystal Energy Warrior would suffer kidney failure at best, or even die instantly...
Therefore, in the absence of stable supplies, Du Yuming rarely allowed them to use unexpected and powerful weapons like the Crystal Energy Warriors.
..
Sure enough, after hearing the reminder from his captain, Du Wu quickly put away the idea of playing, subconsciously quickened his pace, turned the sword in his hand, and stabbed it at the soft flesh where the mutant's limbs and torso were connected.
There was no hard shell there, making it the easiest place to break through. The moment the blade pierced in, he pulled out the knife violently, bringing out a stream of hot and fishy body fluids. The next second, the mutant's limbs instantly became limp, and its huge body fell to the ground with a "bang".
In less than a minute, Du Wu dealt with the remaining mutants.
After the battle, the burning flames were still jumping in the alley. Du Wu dragged his sword on the ground and breathed slightly. The crystal energy cabin behind him made a low "buzzing" sound, and the energy patterns gradually dimmed.
He raised his hand and pressed the switch on the side of the helmet. With a click, the helmet hood opened, revealing his face with thick eyebrows and big eyes.
His short hair was messed up by the helmet, with a few strands sticking to his forehead. He subconsciously smoothed it with his hand, muttering to himself, "I told you this helmet needs to be changed, my hair is messed up again..."
However, no one laughed at his speech. Li Xiang and others looked up at his burly body that was nearly 2 meters tall, saw the traces of slime that was still smoking on his armor, and thought about the bloody slashing just now, their eyes were full of shock.
This victory was not achieved by the flexibility of the lightweight exoskeleton, but by the brute force and fierceness of the heavy mecha. Every slash carried the ferocity of "splitting the mutant in half", adding a bit more bloody combat than the hot weapons of the ground network team.
...
Du Yuming, standing on the Mengshi 3 armored assault vehicle, glanced at the attire of Li Xiang and the others, as well as the fire axes and sharpened steel pipes they held tightly in their hands, and asked in a deep voice:
"Are you wandering survivors? Or from a nearby gathering place?"
Li Xiang and his companions turned around suddenly as if they had just woken up from a dream. When his eyes fell on the clear two-bar three-star colonel rank on Du Yuming's collar badge, he felt as if he had been electrocuted. His whole body trembled violently and his eyes turned red instantly.
His lips trembled, and he opened his mouth, but his throat seemed to be blocked by a hot lump, and the sound he made was uncontrollably trembling and almost incoherent:
"Captain... Commander... Which unit are you in charge of? Is... Is the main force back?! Is the unit... Is the unit really back?!"
He staggered forward half a step in excitement, his eyes fixed on the glittering badge of military rank, as if he wanted to use all his strength to imprint everything in front of him into his heart, for fear that in the blink of an eye, this sudden illusion of hope would be completely shattered.
?
Li Xiang's exaggerated and even somewhat crazy reaction immediately made Du Yuming suspicious.
Jinling, after all, was the headquarters of the Eastern War Zone before the apocalypse. Logically, there shouldn't be a shortage of troops operating there after the apocalypse. Why would they be so excited upon seeing our group?
Behind this...is there some huge change?
Thinking of this, Du Yuming's eyes instantly became sharp, and the look he gave Li Xiang unconsciously became serious and scrutinizing:
"What do you mean? 'The main force is back'? The troops here... have they left?"
No...isn't the main force coming back?
Hearing Du Yuming's question, the excitement on Li Xiang's face froze instantly, replaced by a huge sense of loss after hope burned out. Even his shoulders seemed to collapse, and his tone became extremely low:
"Reporting to the commander... The large force I'm referring to is the main force of the Eastern Theater... Shortly after the apocalypse broke out... the theater headquarters led the main force to relocate... leaving only three garrison regiments stationed in Jinling... I heard they retreated to Zhousan or the Shengsi Islands..."
"Anyway, since then...we haven't heard from them anymore..."
really!
After hearing Li Xiang's answer and looking at the other team members around him nodding in confirmation, Du Yuming's heart sank.
No matter how much they planned, they never expected that the Eastern Theater would so decisively abandon the important city of Jinling, and to implement the transfer at the beginning of the apocalypse!
If that were the case, wouldn't his team have come up empty-handed? He'd have to adjust his next move and head east, towards the Zhoushan Islands, to try his luck...
Quickly suppressing his disappointment, Du Yuming adjusted his mood and continued to ask for key information: "You just said that there were three garrison regiments left in the Eastern Theater. Where are they now?"
As the Zhongzhou War Zone has gradually restored contact with the remaining regular armies in the mainland, the officers and soldiers of Zhongzhou have become increasingly identified with their identity as the "orthodox official force."
As the armed forces representing the country, upon arriving in Jinling, the former military stronghold, they naturally prioritized finding official troops that were still active for supplies and intelligence exchange.
As for the civilian gathering places of survivors, in Du Yuming's opinion, their intelligence value and priority are much lower.
However, after Du Yuming asked this question, the bitterness on Li Xiang's face became even more intense. He shook his head and said in a hoarse voice:
"Commander...there are no more troops near Jinling...at least, no regular troops..."
"Shortly after the war zone headquarters and the main force were relocated, an unprecedented zombie swarm erupted in the city... The three remaining garrison regiments, in order to cover the survivors' escape... were almost... almost wiped out... and buried in the city..."
"The few large settlements that still exist around Jinling were all built by the garrison soldiers who managed to survive the disaster, along with the survivors who escaped..."
Upon hearing this news, even Du Yuming couldn't help but be shocked... Even though he had made a plan before setting off, the current level of corruption in Nanjing was beyond his imagination...
Once the headquarters of the Eastern Theater Command, even traces of the military's presence have been nearly erased...
As a soldier himself, it was hard not to feel emotional and shocked by the changes in the world and the people....
At the same time, he couldn't help but have some questions in mind: why did the Eastern Theater leave so quickly?
Is it due to strategic considerations, or are there other reasons?
What is the current situation in the Eastern Theater? Why hasn't anyone been sent to Nanjing after more than half a year?
Did he come here, but these low-level survivors don’t know about it, or did he really disappear completely?
Thinking of all the above, Du Yuming's thoughts were in a mess for a moment...
