#365 - Chapter 365: Set a New Goal
Night.
Shenzhen, Tianhong Tower-style base.
Here, after darkness falls, countless zombies, who have been hiding in the buildings waiting for their chance, reappear and begin searching for flesh and blood.
Tianhong Headquarters Building, unlike ordinary survivor gathering places, has lights or fires visible from the tenth floor and above, indicating a significant human presence.
In the apocalypse, any force capable of generating electricity can be considered extraordinary.
Even the simplest solar power system is not easily obtainable for just any group.
Unlike merely lighting a few bulbs, this tower base is almost brilliantly illuminated!
This undoubtedly requires strong logistical support.
Fuel and generators need a lot of resources to maintain.
Forces like Tianhong Group, though simple in their initial construction, have many other limitations.
For example, they fundamentally lack the space for large-scale production and storage, and they are essentially unable to achieve self-sufficiency through agriculture.
They have only one option!
Continuous plundering of the outside world!
Only by scavenging enough resources and food from the outside can they sustain their existence!
At this moment, on the roof of the Tianhong Headquarters Building.
The top floor is illuminated with lights that seem out of place in the apocalypse.
The glass and windows project the light of technological civilization.
The top floor is naturally where the leader, Tianhong, resides and works.
"Have you found the force that killed our people?"
In the magnificent hall, Tianhong, with his legs crossed and a nearly burnt-out cigarette in his mouth, squinted his eyes and questioned several subordinates who had come to report on the day's work.
Before him stood some of the most influential figures in the Tianhong Group.
Such as Mr. Ma, Tang Yan, and others.
A total of seven or eight people.
"We have some leads. Today, Director Tang captured some survivors who witnessed the group fleeing. I interrogated them and learned that they came from Guangyuan City in the east!"
"Tomorrow, our people will go there to begin searching. Judging by the situation, the other side isn't an unknown force. Finding the survivors or forces there should quickly lead us to those who killed our people!"
Mr. Ma sat on the sofa in the hall, somewhat relaxed, and added.
In the group, he is practically the only one who can maintain such a posture in front of the leader.
And he has the qualifications.
"Then dig these people out! It would be best to capture them, chop off their heads, and hang them outside the building, so others know the consequences of offending us!"
A fierce glint flashed in Tianhong's eyes as he forcefully extinguished the cigarette in the ashtray.
As if the cigarette butt represented those who offended him, easily crushed to death!
"What's the situation with the 'big meat'? How is the feedback from other forces regarding the 'big meat' purchased from Yun City?"
After finishing the previous matter, Tianhong changed the subject and asked about another matter.
A matter concerning food that they were involved in.
"Mr. Tian, the 'big meat' traded from Yun City a few days ago is very popular! Our own people have praised it! That guy surnamed Pan is worthy of owning a shop, and he certainly knows how to make food!"
One of the middle-aged men in the hall, about forty or fifty years old, interjected. He was responsible for this work.
"We compared it with our own 'big meat,' and there is indeed a significant difference. Our own tastes bad and contains certain toxins. Many of our guys who ate our own 'big meat' said they easily got stomachaches, while the ones bought from Yun City not only don't cause that but also taste better!"
The middle-aged man continued to report the truth.
Tianhong nodded slightly as he listened.
This subordinate was right. The quality of the 'big meat' purchased from Yun City a few days ago was indeed good, far better than what they made themselves.
As a human of the new era, he wasn't averse to eating 'big meat'.
Even though he wasn't short of food.
But like the wealthy people of the past, they always pursued some rare or even perverted pleasures.
The day before yesterday, Tianhong tasted the goods from Yun City.
The taste was more flavorful than pork or beef.
"The guy surnamed Pan who trades with us from Yun City said he will bring more good goods in a couple of days to trade for weapons and supplies. Mr. Tian, should we still trade with him?"
The middle-aged man continued to report.
As for the object of his report, the man named Tianhong stood up, walked to a wine cabinet filled with various famous wines next to the hall, randomly selected a bottle, poured himself a glass, took a small sip, and then said:
"Trade? No need!"
"When he comes in a couple of days, just arrest him! Since he possesses this 'big meat' making technology, then he should obediently dedicate it!"
"The weak have no right to negotiate!"
Tianhong chuckled.
These subordinates hadn't completely changed their thinking. For things he took a fancy to, wasn't the best way to simply seize them?
Stop thinking about the old business practices!
Now is a barbaric world of the survival of the fittest!
"Understood, Mr. Tian!"
Hearing the leader's words, the others in the hall naturally knew what to do next.
Indeed.
The weak simply have no right to negotiate with them. Did the guy surnamed Pan from Yun City perhaps think that his little technology and manpower could negotiate terms with Tianhong Group?
Thinking too much.
******
Evening.
Mentang Town.
Branch Base.
One of the buildings recently constructed.
It was brightly lit inside, with bright lights turned on, dispelling the darkness and restoring light to the area.
Inside one of the dorm rooms, several people were excitedly chatting.
"Brother Li! This feeling is so great! My God! Here, we can actually keep the lights on until 10 PM!"
"Hahaha, the atmosphere of civilization! This is where humans should live! What kind of crap life were we living before? We're finally in!"
Xiao Cong stood in the assigned dormitory, loudly exclaiming with a smug look on his face.
Yes.
Today was their first official day of moving into the branch base.
Yesterday, they had to go back to Residence Area One to pack their things, and today, they officially settled down here to work.
"Haha, look at your silly expression. If Ah Zhen sees you, she'll nag you for a long time."
Li Shenglin laughed and teased Xiao Cong from the side.
He was also extremely happy in his heart.
Today was a good day.
After struggling for half a year in the apocalypse, from wandering around outside without a fixed place to rely on for several months, to joining Green Source and being assigned to Residence Area One.
After several months of hard work, refusing the temptation to enter the branch base alone ahead of time, they finally brought all their team members to live in the branch base!
Worth celebrating!
"Call Ah Zhen and the others over! Let's prepare dinner! Tonight, we'll cook some more grain and have a big meal to reward ourselves for our efforts during this time!"
Brother Li patted Xiao Cong, who was still talking nonsense with a smug look on his face, and asked him to find the other female partners.
Ah Zhen and the others also lived in this building, but on different floors. The men and women were slightly separated, which was quite convenient.
Soon, all their team members gathered together.
A total of eight people.
Three women and five men.
They were the ten people who escaped from Shenzhen. Li Cai and her mother left, and these were the only ones left.
Inside the dormitory, they took out the dinner distributed after work today, added some of the grain they had saved, and placed it on the table in the middle.
"Today is the day we officially entered the branch base. From now on, we have finally achieved the goal we set when we came to Green Source last year!"
"I think I can now confidently say loudly that we are safe!"
Hearing Brother Li's words, everyone's eyes were slightly moist.
Yes.
After struggling for so long, they finally felt what it meant to be safe only after entering the branch base!
The walls of the branch base had now been built to a height of over thirty meters. Standing below and feeling the towering majesty that blotted out the sky, the feeling of excluding the apocalypse outside gave the people living inside a sense of absolute security!
A sense of security that forgot the zombie threat outside!
A sense of security that even the ten-meter-high walls of the residential area couldn't provide!
"We did it! Come on! Cheers!"
Li Shenglin raised a glass of boiled water, which was the clean water purified and boiled by the branch base for its personnel to drink.
The people in the dormitory raised their glasses one after another, using water instead of wine, and drank this cup of white water symbolizing victory!
"It smells so good!"
"Why do I feel that eating in the branch base is more delicious than eating outside?! Is it my illusion?"
Xiao Cong scooped a mouthful of rice and happily narrowed his eyes and exclaimed.
Who wasn't feeling that way?
This time, the others didn't say anything to him, because everyone felt the same way.
The brand-new decoration of the dormitory, the bright lights above their heads, and the night watchmen walking back and forth on the outer walls.
In the safe and comfortable environment of the branch base, normal people could taste a more delicious flavor.
"It's like a dream. The apocalypse came so suddenly, and now we've returned to this kind of environment. It's unbelievable."
Brother Liang rarely had such feelings.
Living in a house he personally built and decorated was many times better than the temporary doghouses converted from factories in the residential area.
"Yeah, when I was decorating this house, I was thinking, how great would it be if I could live in a house I repaired myself! And now it's really come true, it's like a dream ~"
Brother Li also exclaimed.
The dormitory wasn't big. It was a standard four-person room with two double beds, a table in the middle, and a large wardrobe. There was an independent toilet and bathroom near the door.
Like the student dormitories in high school and university, very ordinary.
But it wasn't ordinary in the hearts of these eight people.
If there were no accidents.
This would be their 'home' for a very long time to come.
Home.
This place could really be called that.
"I really want Sister Cai to live here too! We were originally seeking survival together, and wasn't this our ultimate goal? Now we've achieved it, but Sister Cai..."
Ah Zhen was originally happy, but when she mentioned another companion far away in Shanshi, her tone suddenly dropped.
"It doesn't matter, Ah Cai will also live well in Shanshi. Her father is the leader of a coal mine base, and Liu team said that they also built a small base. Maybe Ah Cai is living even better than us now!"
"And we've only just started. Entering the branch base means we are only Level 3 personnel, and there are even higher Level 4 and Level 5 personnel!"
"Everyone knows, right? Becoming Level 4 personnel means that even if you don't have a job, you can get a certain amount of food every month. That's a real iron rice bowl! Even if Green Source stops building things and there are no new tasks one day, we can still live safely and steadily with our higher-level personnel status!"
Li Shenglin dispelled Ah Zhen's sadness. He stood up, his whole body bathed in the light above his head.
At this moment, the team members seemed to see a glorious image.
"We must continue to work hard!"
"I've decided! Next goal! Let's all become Level 4 personnel together!"
"Let's go!"
(End of this chapter)
