After over a week of training, headquarters called, urging Shen Feng to depart quickly to retake the county town. Shen Feng could no longer delay and had to choose an opportune moment to prepare for the expedition. The counties under Luzhou's jurisdiction were mostly to the north, and the roads were relatively clear. The only difficulty was dealing with the zombies. Shen Feng's ammunition was not plentiful, so he had to use it sparingly, otherwise, he would run out of bullets during combat.
After many days of recruitment, the three combat departments had each recruited a thousand people. If possible, Shen Feng could recruit more, but if he did, many would have to fight with cold weapons, which would actually damage their combat effectiveness!
In the evening, Shen Feng had dinner at home with the Chang Jianyi siblings. During the meal, Chang Jianyi repeatedly cautioned him, "When you're out, be sure to be careful. If you encounter danger, take your people and run. Don't worry about losing face. As for Luzhou, with me here, there will be no problem!"
Hearing his senior say this, Shen Feng couldn't help but reply, "Senior, let me leave you five hundred rifles. You gather people to protect yourselves. I'm worried that when I'm not around, you might encounter danger. As for me, I won't be in danger outside."
Recently, people from Yuzhou had been constantly running to Luzhou. Luzhou couldn't turn them away, so after registration, they were allowed to enter Luzhou to work. However, with more people, disputes also increased. Shen Feng worried that when he went on the expedition, his senior might encounter danger, so he wanted to leave behind five hundred armed soldiers to maintain order.
However, Chang Jianyi disagreed with Shen Feng's suggestion and said sternly, "We've already produced over a hundred old-fashioned rifles. That's enough for self-defense. And don't forget my personally assembled guards; over a hundred of them are all evolved individuals. With this combat power, ordinary people can't harm me. Don't forget, I'm also an ability user!"
Shen Feng was still hesitant and said, "But it looks like more and more people will be coming from Yuzhou. If some tough characters show up, I'm worried you won't be able to handle them. Please leave some rifles."
"You are the most dangerous when you are out. You must take all the guns with you. As for me, I'm dealing with ordinary people, so it's fine. Take the satellite phone with you. If there's danger, I can contact you through headquarters to return!" Chang Jianyi said patiently.
The satellite phone could not be directly dialed to Luzhou; it could only be contacted through headquarters. However, the satellite phone's advantage was also obvious: it could be contacted smoothly even in the wilderness.
Shen Feng nodded helplessly and said, "Then it's settled. If you encounter any danger, you must contact me first, and I will immediately bring people back. In the meantime, you must be careful!"
Chang Jianyi worried that Shen Feng might encounter danger outside, and Shen Feng equally worried about Chang Jianyi. Since they got together, they had rarely had a few days of alone time, always troubled by these matters or facing other problems. Now, after a week of rest, the fighting was about to begin again, and Shen Feng was to depart tomorrow.
Shen Feng left over a hundred bottles of evolution potions for Chang Jianyi. The reason for so many potions was that trade between Luzhou and Gangcheng had already begun. Luzhou used mutated beast meat to exchange for mutated zombie heads. Gangcheng, upon learning that they could evolve by eating mutated beast heads, became covetous of the mutated beast meat. Therefore, after killing mutated zombies, they would chop off their heads for exchange. As a result, Luzhou rapidly produced evolution potions and cultivated many evolved individuals.
According to the trade rules set by Shen Feng, fifty catties of mutated beast meat could be exchanged for one mutated zombie head. This made the people of Gangcheng feel they were making a huge profit, as the mutated zombie heads were useless to them. Now they could exchange them for mutated beast meat, and fifty catties at that. If they were lucky, they could even cultivate several evolved individuals. Thus, Gangcheng was very enthusiastic about the trade, and it was heard that they were preparing to capture second-tier speed-type zombies.
The next day, Shen Feng departed from the northwest city gate. The city walls had already been built to a height of over ten meters, and the city gates were also constructed. Shen Feng believed that by the time he returned after retaking the county town, the city walls would be completed, and Luzhou would be officially renamed Jiangyang.
"Depart, retake the county town to the north!" Shen Feng shouted loudly. Everyone couldn't help but look back at Luzhou. The city walls stood by the Yangtze River, and the tall walls enclosed the entire city of Luzhou. With the protection of the city walls, the interior of Luzhou would be extremely safe. After leaving Luzhou, they now particularly missed the days of fighting. Although they could only fight with cold weapons, this was the city they had obtained by killing zombies one by one!
Chang Jianyi watched Shen Feng depart at the city gate, her eyes filled with reluctance. However, she also understood that as a man, Shen Feng had to go out and fight; he had to protect more people. As for herself, she wanted to go with him, but if she went, there would be no one to guard Luzhou. Therefore, Chang Jianyi could only stay.
"I will guard Luzhou. No matter what happens, I will wait for you to return!" Chang Jianyi thought silently.
Chang Haojie watched his brother-in-law depart, a hint of anticipation in his eyes. He hoped his brother-in-law would return home safely after the battle. At that time, he wanted to know what his brother-in-law's battles outside were like. Would they be particularly exciting? At this moment, Chang Haojie wished he could grow up faster so he could participate in battles sooner.
Chang Jianyi turned around and said to Tu Xuhuai, "Issue a notice to recruit city guards. They will have the same treatment as soldiers from now on."
"Are we only recruiting people from Luzhou, or Yuzhou people as well?" Tu Xuhuai asked.
"Both. Regardless of origin, as long as they are qualified, they will be accepted. The soldiers have gone to fight, and now Luzhou cannot be without administrators," Chang Jianyi said calmly.
Although headquarters had previously said they would send these people back after a month, the word used at the time was "can." Therefore, Chang Jianyi planned to find suitable talents among the people from Yuzhou. On the other hand, if there were no people from Yuzhou among the administrators, the people from Yuzhou might riot.
Chang Jianyi was not afraid of riots because the group of people under her command was quite capable. Many of them had killed zombies just half a month ago and were confident in combat. If a riot occurred, they could quickly suppress it. However, Chang Jianyi did not want bloodshed to occur. If riots could be avoided, that would be best.
On Shen Feng's side, he set off with Li Xiang. After traveling about a kilometer, they had to stop and clear obstacles from the highway. There were too many cars on the highway, likely because many people fled the city when the zombie outbreak occurred. They didn't expect traffic accidents on the highway, which blocked the road completely, making it impassable.
Li Xiang said helplessly, "I thought as a member of the city defense force, I would be stationed in Luzhou. I didn't expect that I would also have to lead people to retake the county town."
Hearing this complaint, Shen Feng explained, "There are no large-scale zombie infestations around Luzhou anymore; they have basically all been cleared. If you lead a thousand people to guard Luzhou, isn't that overkill? Besides, you're so afraid of death, you should get some experience outside."
Li Xiang nodded helplessly and continued to move cars on the highway.
Shen Feng's people had a simple method for dealing with cars. They would first check if there was any gasoline in the fuel tank. If there was, they would extract it. If not, they would move the cars aside as long as they didn't obstruct passage. Shen Feng's vehicles were mostly trucks because they were convenient for transporting supplies.
Guo Pinming walked up to Shen Feng and asked, "City Lord, do you want that luxury car over there? If you do, I'll drive it over for you."
As he spoke, the thin iron rod in Guo Pinming's hand was constantly changing shape. Shen Feng knew that this guy actually wanted to make a key. Because he had gained the ability to control iron, he could easily use his abilities to make corresponding keys. Therefore, whether it was a luxury car or a tractor, Guo Pinming could make any key.
The only drawback was that driving a tractor was not that easy; it took quite a while to crank it up.
Shen Feng gently shook his head and said, "I don't want it. I don't know how to drive, and I haven't even gotten my driver's license yet!"
However, at this moment, Yu Renshu walked over and said with a smile, "Uncle Guo, I want that car. Can you help me make a key?"
Guo Pinming was a little displeased upon hearing this address. Why should he be called Uncle? He seemed to be only about ten years older than the Doctor. He wasn't even forty yet, so how could he be considered an uncle?
However, Guo Pinming still made a key for Yu Renshu. Yu Renshu took it, tried to start it, and found that it actually worked. So, Yu Renshu began to call out to Shen Feng, "Come sit here! This car is very comfortable."
Shen Feng quickly refused, saying, "No, Li Xiang and I are in the same car. You do as you please."
Shen Feng would rather sit in a truck than be alone with Yu Renshu because he didn't want any rumors to spread. Last time, he had merely discussed some issues with Yu Renshu in the office, and people outside had started gossiping about an office romance, which had displeased Chang Jianyi. Shen Feng worried that if they continued to be alone, the rumors might spread even further.
Chu Chaoyan shamelessly sat in Yu Renshu's car and said with a smile, "Sister, you don't mind me sitting here, do you? Since it's comfortable here, I'll sit here too."
Yu Renshu was helpless and said, "Then do as you please. I don't mind."
Chu Chaoyan fumbled in the back seat and suddenly discovered a mechanism in the car. After lowering the back seat and adding the third row of seats, it actually formed a bed. She immediately exclaimed excitedly, "Sister, look! The back of this car can form a bed!"
"Otherwise, why do you think I chose this car?" Yu Renshu thought to herself. Seeing Chu Chaoyan so excited, she felt a little helpless. It seemed she had been disliked by Shen Feng, and life was full of unsatisfactory things!
The traffic jam on the highway was hundreds of meters long, not particularly extensive. Everyone worked together to clear a path on the highway and then continued to advance. However, there were too many congested sections, and sometimes they could see hundreds of zombies on the highway. In such cases, everyone could only pick up their swords and deal with these zombies.
As long as the number of zombies was not too large, Shen Feng would not allow his subordinates to use guns, as ammunition was scarce. If they could save it, they should save it.
Originally, the distance to the nearest county town was only half a day's journey. At a faster pace, they could reach it in three to four hours. However, it was too difficult to travel on the highway, so they traveled for a whole day, constantly stopping and starting. As evening approached, they had only covered half the distance. It was expected that it would take another day of slow driving to reach another county town.
"Let's rest first. We'll set up camp nearby and continue our journey tomorrow!" Shen Feng ordered.
In reality, Shen Feng could now take an hour to run back to Luzhou to sleep. After all, too much time had been wasted on the road today moving vehicles. It was fortunate that there were over two hundred evolved individuals in the team, which made the process of moving abandoned vehicles so fast. However, Shen Feng thought about it and decided against it. Since they were already on an expedition, how could they miss home so much? They would think about it after retaking a few county towns.
"Speaking of which, I wonder how Yuzhou is doing? Survivors from Yuzhou have been flocking to Luzhou these days, treating Luzhou like a sanctuary!" Shen Feng muttered to himself.