Shen Zhigui and the others didn’t pay any attention to the person speaking; they just unleashed their superpowers on them all at once.
At this point, whoever backed down would lose.
However, Shen Zhigui and his team weren’t the kind of people who killed indiscriminately. Once they confirmed that the opposing party was no longer able to resist, they finally stopped their superpower attack.
Su Zhucheng and Ling Feng immediately took people to untie those who had been tied up.
Shen Zhigui looked at the few people who were now incapacitated by their superpowers.
"Speak, why did you kidnap them?"
There’s no kidnapping without a reason, whether for money, desire, or supplies, there has to be a motive.
The 1.9-meter tall guy who was just about to leave turned his face away: "Hmph, since we’ve already kidnapped them, what do you think our purpose was? We’re all just trying to get something to eat."
Shen Zhigui looked at the tall guy; it was clear he was the leader of everyone there.
"They probably had plenty of food on them; you could have just robbed them and left. Why go to the extent of kidnapping them?"
Clearly, aside from wanting to steal their belongings, there had to be another motive.
But apart from admitting to robbing them of food, the tall guy was unwilling to say anything more.
Of course, Shen Zhigui didn’t necessarily need to know. His only goal was to rescue people; asking about their motive was just incidental.
Once everyone was untied, Shen Zhigui led his people away. Although they took back what was stolen, they didn’t completely finish off the group led by the tall guy.
Having been injured by Shen Zhigui’s team using superpowers, trying to leave safely in the freezing weather was not easy for the tall guy’s group.
In such circumstances, any misstep could cost them their lives.
But that wasn’t something Shen Zhigui needed to worry about.
Shen Zhigui led his group out of the cabin back to where they had parked their vehicles.
The rescued individuals expressed gratitude toward Shen Zhigui and his team along the way. Despite having no prior connection and could have ignored them, they chose to conduct a rescue, which to them was akin to being granted a new lease on life.
Shen Zhigui, unaccustomed to such displays, waved them off and returned to their vehicle.
Su Zhucheng and others, too, exerted significant effort before finally returning to their vehicles.
"This feeling is really amazing; I never thought rescuing people would be so rewarding."
"As if you’ve never saved anyone before."
"It’s not the same; before it was all under Boss Chu’s lead, now we’re leading ourselves."
Hearing someone mention Chu Jiangyue, Shen Zhigui’s eyes darkened.
"Brother Shen, what’s our next move?"
Having exited the safe zone, it was their first time in W City, and they were indeed unsure of where the base would most likely be established.
"Let’s turn on the navigation."
The Jianglin Hotel’s navigation was highly reliable, even beyond City B.
"Right, why didn’t I think of that? I’ll turn it on now."
Lin Xuyuan checked his virtual screen and then activated the navigation.
Unlike the large arrow navigation unique to Chu Jiangyue, their navigation only displayed routes on the in-car screen.
They had always ventured out with Chu Jiangyue, using the large arrow navigation, and suddenly switching to this normal navigation felt a little unfamiliar.
"Brother Shen, the navigation shows there’s a small base about 5km ahead of us."
5km isn’t particularly long or short, but at their driving speed, they’d reach it in a few minutes.
"Check with the others; if there are no objections, let’s take a look."
They didn’t need to visit the base for supplies; their primary aim was to promote Jianglin Hotel, after which they could take care of their own business.
Upon receiving Shen Zhigui’s approval, Lin Xuyuan messaged Ling Feng and the others to confirm that no one objected, then pressed the accelerator to drive forward.
The ambushed individuals obediently followed Shen Zhigui’s team.
In a few minutes, they had successfully driven to the entrance of the small base.
The gatekeepers at the small base, seeing so many vehicles suddenly stop in front of their base, felt apprehensive, suspecting someone was targeting their base for an attack.
Judging by the vehicles, the newcomers seemed affluent, unlike the residents of the small base who considered themselves fortunate to have a single decent meal daily.
Shen Zhigui’s group was unaware of the base dwellers’ thoughts. Upon arrival, everyone began alighting from their vehicles.
Led by Shen Zhigui, they approached the small base entrance in a grand procession.
The gatekeeper’s palms were sweaty: "You... what do you want?"
They were merely a small base with no wealth, people, or food reserves; there was no valid reason to target them.
"Hello, we’re from City B, passing by your area, and we’d like to enter to rest our team. Is that possible?"
Shen Zhigui tried his best to use what he thought was a polite tone to inquire.
"Wh-what?"
The gatekeeper was dumbfounded, not fully grasping what Shen Zhigui was saying.
"It means we’re weary from the long journey from City B and wish to rest in your base.
But rest assured, as long as no one provokes us, we won’t harm anyone inside the base."
Before the apocalypse, Xie Silin was a college student and seemed more approachable compared to others.
Pushing him forward lent his words more credibility.
Indeed, hearing Xie Silin’s words, the gatekeeper visibly relaxed.
"Oh, so you want to rest your team here. Every person entering the base for the first time needs to contribute some supplies; superpower users pay with one pound of rice, non-superpower users two pounds, though you can substitute with other items.
Additionally, everyone’s body must be checked for wounds to ensure they won’t transform into zombies before they can normally enter the base."
"We don’t have any rice; we’ll substitute with corn."
Most of the rice from Jianglin Hotel had already been cooked into white rice, so it wouldn’t work to take back cooked rice and use it as contribution supplies.
"Two corns for one pound of rice substitution is possible."
The exchange rule varied among bases, but this small base had a fairly reasonable exchange rate.
"A lean pantry, but a rich road," as they say; when setting out, they had thoroughly prepared with ample supplies, so providing one or two corns was not a hard task.
As for the inspection, apart from the few who were ambushed, the journey had been relatively safe, so they quickly passed.
Once inside the base, Shen Zhigui instinctively began observing the surroundings.
"Brother Shen, let’s message Captain Song and Sister Jin, informing them that we found a small base.
Once they arrive, we can decide when to leave, how about that?"
Jiang He suggested, asking for Shen Zhigui’s opinion.
Shen Zhigui nodded; notifying them was the right course of action.
Thus, Jiang He found a hidden spot, opened his virtual screen, and contacted Song Chengjun and Jin Chuyu.
Song Chengjun and Jin Chuyu seemed to be awaiting their news. After Jiang He sent his message, the two responded promptly.
After confirming both had received the message, Jiang He closed his virtual screen and went to join the main group.
Meanwhile, after receiving the message from Jiang He, Jin Chuyu and Song Chengjun decided, after some discussion, to follow Jiang He’s directions and meet up with them at the small base.
Fortunately, they had been on foot most of the way, so despite the time passed, they hadn’t covered much distance.
Driving from their location to the small base Shen Zhigui’s group had found would take about ten minutes by the navigation route.
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