Chapter 53: Deserted Island
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
After the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Guangping Street Gathering Place was officially established.
Afterward, everyone went about their respective tasks, keeping everything simple.
However, the establishment, construction, and development of the gathering place was definitely not something that could be solved with just a ribbon-cutting.
Demarcating safe zones, assigning tasks, construction, searching for supplies, rescuing survivors… There was plenty of work to be done.
But these subsequent issues did not concern Lu Ming.
Firstly, he did not like to get involved in these matters and was basically indifferent to them.
Secondly, as the strongest person in the gathering place, Lu Ming’s only mission was to maintain his martial strength advantage.
Even in the plans of Wang Xiong and the others, Lu Ming’s daily exercise routine was the top priority for the gathering place.
What was worth mentioning was that after taking the supplies from the Zhang family’s gathering place, Lu Ming finally replenished his own storage of resources.
With sufficient food, Lu Ming was also full of energy.
In any case, Lu Ming believed that there was no need for him to leave his home for at least three months.
In the afternoon, Lu Ming farmed his crossbow shooting proficiency.
Originally, the space in his home was not sufficient for improving his crossbow shooting proficiency. However, Lu Ming came up with a solution.
He set up a stationary target 30 meters away from his front door and shot at it with a crossbow from the window. The distance was far enough to steadily increase his proficiency.
This method also applied to slingshot shooting, archcry, and firearm shooting—as long as the distance was long enough, even with a high skill level, hitting the target could still increase proficiency.
Lu Ming made this change for a significant reason related to the establishment of the gathering place.
He did not know why.
But after the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Lu Ming felt that the streets outside his house and the designated safe zone were not too dangerous…
During lunchtime, Lu Ming had pondered over this issue. After thinking it through, he believed that the reason could be summed up in one word: Order.
After the apocalypse, Lu Ming did not dare to go outside because it was filled with zombies, and there was no order outside.
However, before the apocalypse, Lu Ming would regularly go out and even visit restaurants for breakfast or lunch.
This was the effect of [Order].
Order brought a sense of security to everyone.
Including Lu Ming.
The establishment of the Guangping Street Gathering Place was a stimulant for all survivors.
Wang Xiong was also in pain and joy.
He was a good man, even a hero.
He was happy that the gathering place had been established and could provide shelter for more survivors.
But he also struggled with the busy affairs and heavy responsibilities.
Externally, Lu Ming was undoubtedly the leader of the Guangping Street Gathering Place (although Lu Ming had never officially agreed)…
In fact, everyone understood the reality of the situation.
The leader’s name was Lu Ming’s.
The leader’s duties belonged to Wang Xiong’s.
As the working leader, Wang Xiong had to handle countless tasks. Despite being busy, he never neglected his main responsibility—the morning training sessions.
In the afternoon, when Lu Ming started practicing crossbow shooting proficiency, Wang Xiong first discussed the construction issues of the gathering place with Zhang Lixin.
The trenches needed to be dug, the traps had to be set up, and the roadblocks had to be arranged.
The survivors needed to be settled. Their basic needs had to be taken care of – food, shelter, transportation, and so on. However, they could not let the survivors be idle; they needed to be assigned work.
The zombies in the streets and houses had to be cleared, and this task had to be done by Awakened individuals.
After consulting with Zhang Lixin and drafting a rough plan, Wang Xiong went out again.
On the one hand, he had to patrol and clear out the zombies.
On the other hand, Wang Xiong also had a very strange problem to verify.
Why were there so few zombies in Good Hope Village?
Just as he arrived at the edge of the safe zone, two women walked towards him.
Wang Xiong paused for a moment and then saw the two women stand in front of him.
“Hello, Brother Wang.”
“Hello.”
“Do you remember us?”
Wang Xiong nodded. “Of course. Red Thunder Martial Arts School, right?”
The two women were the ones who wanted to return to the Red Thunder Martial Arts School yesterday.
One of them, slightly chubby and around 30 years old, nodded and said, “My name is Zhao Xiaohong, and this is my cousin, Zhao Shanshan. We’ve been here for a day and think that the Guangping Street Gathering Place is quite good, but it’s not our home after all. We still want to return to the Red Thunder Martial Arts School. Brother Wang, when are you free?”
To be honest, this request was a little too much.
However, Wang Xiong was a good person. And good people generally did not reject others…
After some thought, Wang Xiong said, “How about this? I’m going to take a look outside Good Hope Village today. I know the location of the Red Thunder Martial Arts School, so I can drop you off on the way.”
With that, Wang Xiong added solemnly, “But there’s something I have to say in advance. It’s very dangerous outside. I can’t guarantee your safety.”
When Zhao Xiaohong and Zhao Shanshan heard this, they nodded without a word. “We understand.”
After all, their families were at the Red Thunder Martial Arts School.
Even if the journey was dangerous, it could not stop their desire to reunite with their loved ones.
Wang Xiong drove a military vehicle and set off with Zhao Xiaohong and Zhao Shanshan.
They deliberately drove around Good Hope Village, but they encountered very few zombies.
However, when they walked out of Good Hope Village, the situation immediately changed!
A large number of zombies wandered on the street without anyone clearing them, and among them were some uncommon giant zombies.
In Nanxiang City outside Good Hope Village, the zombies were rapidly evolving.
As everyone knew, the flesh of an Awakened was extremely attractive to zombies.
Ordinary zombies could not sense this, but a Level 1 giant zombie already had the ability to target living people and even recognize Awakened ones.
As soon as the military vehicle drove out of Good Hope Village, the zombies began to riot as if they had taken drugs.
A massive number of zombies, led by numerous giant zombies, swarmed towards the military vehicle, causing Wang Xiong to panic and quickly retreat back to Good Hope Village.
However, the horde of zombies did not relent…
They continued to pursue Wang Xiong until the edge of the safe zone, where they were finally wiped out by the combined efforts of Lu Ming, Zhang Chengcheng, and the others.
“We’re trapped. We can’t get out.”
After the situation calmed down, Wang Xiong’s words made everyone’s faces turn grim.
Because of Simba, all the zombies in Good Hope Village had been taken away, resulting in a relatively small number of zombies in the entire village.
However, this law did not apply outside Good Hope Village.
The zombies over there didn’t care about Simba, Lu Ming, or the Zombie Forbidden Zone.
Of course, no one in Guangping Street Gathering Place knew about Simba’s influence.
However, the reality was already in front of them. Even if they could not guess the main cause, everyone could roughly understand the situation they were currently facing.
“The entire Good Hope Village is like a besieged city. Due to unknown reasons, there are very few zombies in Good Hope Village. However, once you leave Good Hope Village, zombies are everywhere, making it impossible for us to move an inch!”
In plain terms, Lu Ming and the others were trapped.
The horde of zombies formed an ocean.
Good Hope Village was an isolated island.
To venture out to sea, they would definitely need Awakened individuals to lead the team.
However, Awakened individuals would also attract a storm.
“A deadlock.”
Li Zitong said in a muffled voice..