Chapter 167: Mutated Cow

Chapter 167: Mutated Cow

The next morning.

After having breakfast together, Wu Heng saw Wen Mansa off, who had stayed overnight.

Wen Mansa still felt somewhat guilty about yesterday's assassination attempt, as she had provided the information on the wanted criminal.

But the incident wasn't really her fault.

If the assassination had truly been targeted at him, it could have happened any other time, which would have been even more dangerous.

Besides, she had received the appropriate punishment last night.

Back in the living room, Minnie and Andviel were discussing doing a thorough cleaning of the house today.

They also wanted to tidy up the front and back yards and plant some flowers and plants.

Wu Heng had told them not to go out for a few days, and the shop was temporarily closed.

After all, the motive behind the assassination attempt was still unclear.

It was safer for them to stay home.

After giving them a few more instructions.

He went up to the third floor and used the portal to enter the zombie world.

......

In the zombie world.

Walking out of the office area.

As he descended the stairs, he saw several alchemical skeletons.

They had arrived with the convoy yesterday and would now handle alchemical work here.

Wu Heng assigned several rooms on the third floor to the alchemical skeletons, clearing out the office furniture and replacing it with alchemical workbenches.

He also instructed the skeletons to move all the refrigerators and freezers from outside into the lab.

The refrigerators and freezers were for storing materials and finished potions.

Previously, conditions didn't allow for this.

But now, with a dedicated power supply and storage system here, and not many people in the prison, the skeletons, who didn't rely on visual sight, didn't even need floodlights.

The basic electricity needs of the prison were easily met.

Overall, living conditions were better here than in the other settlement.

Wu Heng watched as the skeletons plugged in the refrigerators and taught them how to use the appliances.

Alchemical skeletons couldn't speak but had high intelligence, so learning these tasks wasn't an issue.

After everything was set up.

Alchemy Skeleton One respectfully handed over two potions made from Tier-1 corpse cores.

[Strength Enhancement Potion]

(Description: A potion developed from energy extracted from mutated creatures, providing significant improvements to living beings, with a slight chance of awakening bloodline powers.)

Wu Heng took the potions and stored them in his inventory.

He didn't plan to use them immediately but intended to give them as rewards to Li Yanhong and Wen Mansa.

Although they had different roles, both were crucial to his operations.

They were responsible for managing people.

Especially Wen Mansa, who, despite her low level, had to manage over a thousand gang members.

Without some solid strength, problems could arise at any time.

These potions would be perfect for them.

Wu Heng left the office building and headed to the residential area downstairs.

Before long, Li Yanhong hurried down from the upper floor.

She was holding an iPad and had an electronic map open. "I found an offline version of the electronic map," she said.

Wu Heng took it and fiddled with it a bit. Many functions didn't work, but the map could zoom in and out, showing roads and shops.

He tried searching for gold shops but got no response.

It seemed that feature was unusable.

Li Yanhong pointed to several locations on the map. "These areas have malls and pedestrian streets where supplies are likely concentrated."

Wu Heng nodded.

The map showed important buildings and names in the city.

But the search function was disabled.

Li Yanhong pointed to several spots. "These are malls and grocery stores. We should find a lot of supplies there."

Wu Heng nodded.

The electronic map would be useful for navigating the surrounding areas and identifying roads.

After thinking for a moment, he asked, "When you have time, also mark the locations of gold and silver shops."

"Got it," Li Yanhong replied. She then continued, "Earlier, we talked about announcing over the radio that we're accepting survivors. Wang Ke mentioned that her grandmother's village is nearby. She wanted to know if we could check it out."

Wang Ke!

Wu Heng remembered her.

She was the intern nurse he had rescued from the hospital.

Also, the first survivor he and Li Yanhong had saved.

Thinking it over, since he planned to scavenge supplies today anyway, it didn't matter where they went. Even rural villages could be looted.

They could also check on her grandmother.

There wasn't much of a problem with that.

"Alright, get the convoy ready. We'll check on Wang Ke's grandmother today. But let her prepare for the possibility that her grandmother may not have survived." Wu Heng said directly.

After all, several months had passed, and even the young and strong survivors were rare.

The chances of an elderly woman surviving were even slimmer.

But since she was a survivor's relative.

They had to at least check. Whether she was alive would depend on luck.

"Okay, I'll make the arrangements." Li Yanhong nodded and left.

......

Half an hour later.

The convoy lined up at the gate, waiting.

Some people were loading necessary supplies.

Such as food, tools for car repairs, and spare gasoline.

With more hands and better tools, the process was becoming more organized.

There were five trucks, three SUVs, and a small van.

The trucks were reinforced with ramming spikes and steel, looking like menacing porcupines.

The SUVs had also been modified, with steel bars on the windows and reinforced tires to prevent zombie attacks.

They looked much safer now.

Wu Heng directed the skeletons to board the trucks and climbed into the van Li Yanhong was driving.

Inside, along with Li Yanhong, sat Wang Ke, dressed in stab-resistant gear and wearing a bright blue bike helmet.

Seeing Wu Heng get in.

She immediately stood up and bowed, "My lord, thank you for helping me."

"No problem. We help each other in tough times," Wu Heng said, taking the front passenger seat.

Li Yanhong glanced over. "Ready to go?"

"Let's go."

Li Yanhong nodded, picked up the walkie-talkie, and gave the order to move out.

The gate opened, and the convoy set off, driving into the distance.

After about an hour of driving.

The noise from the convoy attracted more and more zombies.

They rushed out from both sides of the street, slamming into the vehicles.

Meanwhile, a growing horde began to form behind the convoy.

Ssszzzz~!

The walkie-talkie crackled with a voice, "Sister Hong, there's a pile of wrecked cars blocking the road ahead."

"Can we push through?" Li Yanhong asked.

"It looks tough. There are a lot of them, and we don't want to damage the vehicles," came the reply over the walkie-talkie.

Li Yanhong turned to Wu Heng.

Wu Heng said, "Stop. Let's kill these zombies before moving forward."

Li Yanhong relayed the order into the walkie-talkie, "Close the gaps between the vehicles. Prepare to stop and clear the zombies. Drivers, lock your doors and don't get out."

The convoy began closing ranks.

Eventually coming to a stop in the middle of the road.

Wu Heng turned to the big skeleton in the back and said, "Send the skeletons out to kill the zombies."

Clang~!

All the skeletons jumped out of the trucks.

They charged toward the oncoming zombie horde.

The two forces clashed, and the sound of fighting and howling filled the area.

The battle went smoothly without any issues.

Even the larger, specialized skeletons like Bagdong didn't need to intervene.

The skeleton army had leveled up, and their stats had improved.

Compared to the same numbers, the skeletons now had higher attributes.

Soon, the battle was over.

Li Yanhong got out and unloaded a forklift, clearing the wrecked cars from the road.

Wu Heng had the skeletons move the zombie corpses to the sides of the road.

Before long, the road was clear.

The convoy restarted and continued forward.

......

Around noon.

After clearing a few more waves of zombies, the convoy neared the village.

"Sister Hong, we're approaching the market at the edge of the village," Qiangzi's voice came through the walkie-talkie again.

The road narrowed, and the convoy couldn't pick up much speed.

Zombies emerged from both sides of the street, slamming into the vehicles.

And more zombies began surrounding the convoy.

Despite being a village, this one had a much larger population than the last village near the construction warehouse.

Wu Heng gave the order, "Stop. Kill the zombies."

The convoy slowed and pulled to the side of the road.

Then, a large group of skeleton soldiers jumped out of the trucks.

They formed a spear phalanx to hold back the large wave of zombies pouring out from the market.

The knife-wielding skeletons rushed toward the zombie horde from both sides.

Another round of intense fighting ensued.

The zombies fell like wheat being cut down.

Once the battle ended.

The skeletons returned to standby mode, and the area fell silent.

Only the sound of the convoy's engines hummed in the background.

"Clear the bodies!"

The skeletons resumed their work, clearing the piles of corpses blocking the road.

The convoy moved forward again, entering the village market.

The road was lined with grocery stores, fabric shops, and farming equipment stores.

"There should be a lot of supplies here," Li Yanhong said, glancing around.

"Yes, we'll search this area after we visit the village," Wu Heng replied.

The convoy continued onward.

Passing through the market and heading out of the village.

"My lord, that cluster of houses over there is Damu Village."

Wang Ke pointed to the collection of houses in the distance.

Wu Heng looked out and saw a large village. It seemed to be relatively well-off, with many houses covered in white ceramic tiles and blue-roofed steel buildings.

"Was the village population quite large?" Wu Heng asked.

Wang Ke shook her head, "I don't really know. I didn't come back often, but I heard the village had been developing well. Both agriculture and livestock farming were supported."

It seemed the village had received some development support in recent years.

Wu Heng, who lived in the city, hadn't had much contact with these rural areas.

But from the looks of it, the living conditions here were not much worse than in the city.

However, considering the zombie outbreak, the dense population likely reduced the chances of survival.

"Do you think my grandmother..." Wang Ke asked quietly from the back.

"Keep an open mind. If your grandmother wasn't lucky, we'll still have done our best," Li Yanhong said while driving, offering some comfort.

Wang Ke nodded and fell silent.

After meeting other survivors at the prison.

She realized how lucky she had been, being saved by the people at the auto repair shop.

Had she fallen into Chen Jinlong's hands, her fate would have been much worse.

Of course, she hoped her grandmother had survived, but if they didn't find her or if she had turned into a zombie.

She would accept it.

After all, she had already used up all her luck just to stay alive.

The road grew rougher, becoming a bumpy dirt path.

Tools inside the car rattled with the shaking.

This was the road Wang Ke had mentioned, developed with support for the village. Without the support, it would have been all dirt.

After about 10 minutes of driving, they neared a blue-roofed factory.

The buildings were large, and on the small cement structures by the roadside, they could see signs for supermarkets and dormitories.

It looked like a factory complex.

Moo~!

Suddenly, a strange cow's bellow echoed from inside the factory.

Everyone in the vehicle frowned.

A cow?

Bang~!

Suddenly, a loud crash echoed as the black iron gate of the factory was smashed open.

A massive, decaying dairy cow charged out of the factory.

Everyone's eyes widened in shock as they watched.

Bang! It rammed into one of the trucks in the middle of the convoy.

Squeeech~!

The convoy slammed on the brakes, tires kicking up dust as the vehicles came to a stop.

"What the hell was that?"

"It looks like we were attacked."

"It's a zombie cow! The cow attacked the convoy!"

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