Chapter 1221 Cleaning the battlefield
Night market battlefield, D4 area, formerly Jiefang Avenue.
This place was once a bustling commercial street, but now it has become a graveyard of steel and blood.
The charred ruins, like the ribs of a giant beast, menacingly pierce the gray sky. The once pristine glass curtain walls are now riddled with spiderweb-like bullet holes, or completely shattered by explosions, leaving only empty windows that, like vacant eyes, numbly gaze upon the hellish scene below.
Almost no part of the street was intact. Craters of all sizes resembled lunar craters, filled with a dark reddish-black, viscous liquid that emitted a strong, foul stench. These were pools of blood, a mixture of rainwater, mud, and the blood of countless zombies.
Broken concrete blocks, twisted steel bars, and car wrecks burned to the frame are everywhere, piled up in layers.
Most of the remains were fragmented limbs and broken pieces.
They were scattered at all sorts of bizarre angles, covering most of the area within sight.
Pale, black limbs covered in bacteria or mutated tissue were intertwined and repeatedly crushed by treads and footsteps, long since blended into the mud and blood, making a sickening "plop" sound when stepped on.
The pungent, almost tangible stench of decay and the smell of gunpowder mingled together, creating a nauseating aura of death that could almost knock out an unprotected person.
However, in this suffocating hell on earth, there was an unusual, bustling atmosphere filled with the power of industry.
"Quick! Quick! Cleanup team, get on board! Clear this path for me!"
A militia captain, dressed in camouflage military full-body protective clothing, stood on the roof of a military off-road vehicle, waving his arms and shouting at the top of his lungs.
In front of him stood three massive heavy bulldozers, like three red steel behemoths, side by side.
Their massive shovels were fitted with heavy-duty anti-collision and crushing structures, and the red flags stuck in the hull fluttered conspicuously amidst the billowing smoke and dust.
"Boom--!"
The diesel engine roared deafeningly, and the heavy tracks began to turn, mercilessly crushing the mountain of corpses ahead!
"Crack... Pfft..."
The horrific sounds of bones shattering, flesh being crushed, and being churned were incessant, even drowning out the roar of the engine.
Like a plow cutting through over-composted, rotten land, the bulldozer carved out a wide "road" filled with minced meat and bone fragments, wide enough for heavy trucks to pass through, through the thick layer of corpses and ruins!
A viscous, dark red liquid gushed from both sides of the shovel, as if the earth were bleeding...
Following closely behind the bulldozers were a series of roaring heavy semi-trailer trucks.
Like silent, steel dragons, they marched with great momentum into this death zone along the road paved with blood and flesh.
The first semi-trailer slowly came to a stop beside a relatively open, pre-cleared intersection platform.
The vehicle was covered with thick canvas, but the massive outline of its cargo could still be vaguely seen.
"Get in position! Unload and assemble immediately!" The commander on the roof immediately issued the order via walkie-talkie.
As soon as the words were spoken, the members of the Fifth Militia Detachment (at the regimental level), who had been waiting around the platform, immediately sprang into action. The full-body protective suits they had been wearing, produced by Factory 0019, were almost entirely stained with dark red ink.
They were seen climbing onto the semi-trailer with practiced ease, unloading standardized and modular metal boxes and structural components, either individually or in groups, and then quickly assembling them on the platform using small handling equipment.
Kaka-
The clanging of gears meshing, hydraulic rods extending, and metal components precisely aligning creates a discordant yet powerful industrial prelude on this battlefield dominated by death and destruction.
Soon, as time passed, a massive device, full of precision mechanics and futuristic technology, was built at a speed visible to the naked eye—this was the fifth-generation fully automated brain nucleus extraction machine produced by the 'Zhang Hengzhong Mechanical Equipment Research Institute'!
While this equipment was being assembled, the long convoy that followed did not stop. They followed closely behind the bulldozers that were constantly roaring and clearing the way, and continued to advance deeper into the city, towards the military safe zone where the fighting had just ended.
Every so often, about one kilometer apart, a semi-trailer truck would break away from the main convoy and, guided by the command personnel, head towards another "safe point" that had been marked in advance or temporarily cleared.
The same process was repeated: bulldozers roughly cleared the site, semi-trailers were parked, figures in dark red protective suits rushed in, and modular equipment was unloaded and assembled...
One, two, three...
These cold, mechanical creations, like precisely sown seeds of death, stretched along the bloody path torn open by the attacking forces, extending into the heart of the city, greedily absorbing the nutrients of the apocalypse!
...
Meanwhile, convoys of transport vehicles, stretching like blood vessels, were carrying survivors drawn from various settlements in the night province, delivering blood transfusions to the city undergoing major surgery.
43rd Transport Team
Wang Laowu was huddled in the corner of the military truck, his buttocks aching from sitting on the folding stool beneath him.
The carriage was filled with a strong smell of sweat and engine oil, as well as a faint, stale odor that came from many people gathered together.
The canvas cargo box offered no sound insulation; the roar of construction vehicles' tracks crushing the road, the faint sounds of explosions in the distance, and the groaning of the old truck's engine all blended together into a cacophony of disturbing noise.
He registered four days ago at the gathering place for his colleagues. At that time, the management committee used a loudspeaker to announce that the military urgently needed manpower to participate in an "important post-war mission," and that volunteers were welcome to sign up, with excellent benefits.
Most importantly, there was the written promise, stamped with the official red seal of the Central Plains War Zone—that the immediate family members of anyone who died in the line of duty would be permanently supported by the government. This alone was enough to make people like Wang Laowu risk their lives in the end times.
Of course, the most important thing is that it has the recognized and powerful strength of the Central Plains Theater as a guarantee!
This was visualized in the military images they saw at the settlement of the battlefield as the night market was recaptured: the roar of thousands of cannons firing simultaneously, bombers covering the sky, and an unparalleled torrent of steel...
Just like buying insurance, the strength of the insurance company is undoubtedly the most important reference. And looking at the entire Ye Province, and even Zhou Bang, there is no 'insurance company' stronger than the Zhongzhou War Zone.
Now, the only pastime for most ordinary survivors is listening to the radio and discussing the current situation. This has led to survivors being more knowledgeable about current affairs and politics than before the apocalypse, and thus also knowing about the establishment of the Zhou Bang Emergency Military Committee for the Apocalypse.
The already powerful Central Plains War Zone has now annexed three other major war zones. What could be more reassuring than this?
However, if the only requirement is to support family members, it might not attract many survivors, since not every survivor has fallen to the point where they need to rely on insurance fraud to support their families.
The so-called support for immediate family members can at best only solve the worries of these survivors. What really makes them risk everything is the second benefit offered by the Night Province Management Committee!
'Those who participate in the task will be eligible for higher contribution levels in the future, participating in night market room allocation and receiving priority in job assignments!'
