CH 93

Chapter 93: Getting bold

"The troops here ought to be soldiers originally posted in this military district. Being capable of inaugurating such a contingency plan in the early stages of the apocalypse shows the person in charge is a very competent leader." Long Zhanye offers his analysis. "Asking for 10kg of food per person as entrance fee may be a little black-hearted, however, it is a matter they have no choice in. If there's no one responsible for going outside and bringing back goods, this is the only other way to prevent their stockpile of food from decreasing too much…in this case, this would be the reason to form these 'mercenary squads' you spoke of before. When these squads appear, the entire safe zone will have to be reformed. Still…there is another risk factor yet unaddressed. That is the checkpoint. As far as I can tell, no backup plan or counter-measures have been implemented in this military district. If amongst the survivors allowed into the safe zone, one person was bitten or scratched by a zombie, the result will be too horrible to contemplate."

Huo Zaiyuan abruptly stiffens as he heard Long Zhanye's words even as a small smile surfaces.

Indeed worthy of being A City's senior officer. In Huo Zaiyuan's case, being someone who experienced the apocalypse before his rebirth, he will always carefully analyse everything down to the finest detail in order to ensure his own safety and survival. Long Zhanye, on the other hand, isn't like him. The soldier relies wholly on his own intuition and experience to analyse things, his keen mind enabling him to immediately figure out the weakness in the safe zone's defence.

"Zhanye, I want to find the leader of this safe zone and inform them of this problem." Leaping down from the car's roof, he lands lightly on the balls of his feet.

Long Zhanye follows him down, reaching out to drape an arm around Huo Zaiyuan's shoulders, chuckling softly. "All right, I'll go with you."

"Un."

As the three vehicles have yet to fully enter the military district's gates and are currently parked near the perimeter wall, the pair can only walk towards the military district on foot.

Two soldiers barred their way when the two men approach the gate. "Who are you? You need a pass in order to enter the military district. Where are your passes?"

"We don't have a pass, but we want to meet the leader of this safe zone. There's something we need to talk to them about." Huo Zaiyuan says, not the least bit afraid of the aggressive looks on the soldiers' faces.

"No permission to enter without passes. Please leave." The soldier on the left speaks up.

"Even if you have passes, the leader is not someone you can so easily ask to meet." The one on the right says in a hostile tone.

Hearing the words delivered in an unfriendly tone, Long Zhanye who had stayed silent throughout this short exchange immediately feels displeasure rising in his heart. His little Yuan merely wants to speak to X City's military district leader, a person of inferior rank to his own, and this puny Private has the audacity to direct a scathing look at his little Yuan. Really bold ah.

"Hmph, this senior officer made a long and difficult trek to come over to X City in order to perform an inspection. It has only been a month since the start of the apocalypse. Are you trying to abolish military discipline completely?!" Expression abruptly darkening, Long Zhanye glares coldly at the two soldiers.

Upon hearing these harsh words, the two instantly looses their stern expressions and exchange a brief look, obviously not knowing how to proceed from here.

"This…this…"

"Still not leading the way? If you keep delaying this senior officer’s business, you will both be carrying your heads and running a lap around this safe zone!" Fishing something out from the pocket of his camouflage coat, Long Zhanye throws it at the face of the still hesitating soldier on the right.

The object smacks the Private full on before dropping to the ground. It is a card representing Long Zhanye's identity and proof of his rank as a senior military officer. On top of it, a military epaulette[1] is securely hooked to a corner, the few titanium-gold alloy stars attached to that piece of cloth just about blinding the dog-eyes[2] of those two soldiers.

Footnotes:

[1] Military epaulettes:

[2] Dog-eyes: Look down on people inferior to them but worship those superior to them.