Chapter 173 - 172: Returning to the Front Line

Chapter 173: Chapter 172: Returning to the Front Line

The part of the conversation that required privacy was mostly over. Hearing Lin Fan’s question, Ye Qingzhou simply waved her hand and led the group outside, over to the truck.

"There aren’t many fiber-optic drones in the entire encampment. It’s not that the drones are rare, but the military-grade controllers require a special converter to connect via fiber optics. We have no reserves of those, only a few left over from the last exercise,"

she said, pulling a small, beverage-bottle-sized plastic barrel out of a case.

"This is a fiber-optic spool. One barrel can hold ten kilometers of fiber. The cable is as light as a strand of hair. For the drone’s safety, we fly a maximum of four kilometers out before returning to avoid the fiber snapping and the drone crashing."

Lin Fan took the fiber-optic spool and weighed it in his hand. It was very light. Seeing about ten more spools left in the case, he returned the one he was holding.

"We only brought one out. The rest have all been destroyed. And this one... well, it’s in terrible shape too."

Ye Qingzhou then opened another case, revealing the one and only drone to Lin Fan and the others.

"The self-balancing and payload systems are broken. The only reason we can control this drone at all is because of Cyan Bird’s ability. But the camera was fried in last night’s explosion, and we haven’t found any replacement parts yet."

She closed the case and continued,

"On the outer ring road, whether you go east or west, the nearest gas stations are all billowing black smoke from a distance. Only the one on Tianshui Road appears to be intact, and it’s not far. So, after consulting with Chaoxian... that is, Colonel Zhou, we decided to risk crossing the horde to resupply here..."

"How many hordes like this have you crossed?"

Lin Fan’s mouth twitched as he heard Ye Qingzhou speak so matter-of-factly about crossing a zombie horde.

"Eight. Three of them were even larger than this one. But back then, our supplies were still relatively plentiful, and we had a good amount of heavy weapon ammunition. We kept taking injuries and losing people, but we also kept picking up new recruits along the way. It was difficult, but we weren’t in a completely desperate state."

Ye Qingzhou didn’t speak. Wang Zhong, who was standing to the side, answered Lin Fan’s question instead.

"Besides, the ones we managed to cross don’t even count as truly large-scale. We once observed a horde with the drone... a dense, black mass stretching as far as the eye could see. You couldn’t even call it a horde anymore. It was a tide of the dead..."

He seemed to shudder, still shaken by the memory.

"We only cross a horde when we have no other choice—when we’re cornered or it’s the lesser of two evils. Otherwise, we always go around."

"That’s why it’s taken us five days to cover just over a hundred kilometers and we’re still not there,"

Ye Qingzhou added,

"Besides, this armored vehicle’s dead weight is too great; it can’t cross all the overpasses or bridges. This severely limits our choice of routes. What’s more, those two autocannons were our most powerful weapons, but they’re broken now. So I don’t recommend we continue using this vehicle."

"You all are far more professional than I am when it comes to weapons, equipment, and vehicles. Even though I’m technically the supreme commander... forget it. I hereby appoint you Deputy Supreme Commander. You don’t have to ’suggest’ things like vehicle allocation to me. It makes it sound like all this is my stuff and you’re just outsiders..."

Hearing the hesitation in Ye Qingzhou’s tone, Lin Fan decided it was best to simply continue authorizing her team to take the lead on these matters.

’I don’t know anything about the performance of these vehicles and weapons anyway. What if I make a decision based on some stupid assumption? An amateur telling experts what to do is a recipe for disaster.’

’After all, we’re all in the same boat. If something goes wrong, my little group of Awakened Ones might be able to get away, but these soldiers would be completely wiped out. They’re bound to be more careful than I am.’

"Well... that works too,"

Seeing that Lin Fan was delegating to her, Ye Qingzhou accepted decisively. She gave Lin Fan a nod, then turned to Wang Zhong at her side and said,

"Major Wang, go set up the sentry posts."

Then she turned to Ye Qingniao and Zhang Wenyuan:

"Zhang Wenyuan, continue scouting south along the highway. Monitor the horde’s movements and report back as needed. Be sure to keep your distance."

"I’ll go too..."

When the group first came outside, Ye Qingniao hadn’t followed. Lin Fan hadn’t paid it any mind. ’Just a young girl being moody,’ he had thought.

But the moment Ye Qingzhou assigned the reconnaissance mission, she popped up from out of nowhere to volunteer.

The "little girl" demeanor she’d had when she first met Lin Fan was completely gone. Her face was stern and set. Combined with her outfit, she looked every bit the battle-hardened veteran.

"Alright. Then the two of you..."

"Xu Qian, you go with them too."

Lin Fan called over Xu Qian, who had been whispering with Chu Zhaotian.

"Him? We’re going on a frontline reconnaissance mission, not a vacation!"

Ye Qingniao seemed to still be holding a grudge against Lin Fan for teasing her about Zhou Chaoxian. Seeing him pick out a skinny-looking kid, she couldn’t help but speak up.

"His Awakened ability is perfect for reconnaissance. I want him to go with you all and learn from his seniors."

Completely unfazed, Lin Fan pulled Xu Qian into the middle of the group and patted his shoulder.

"Go on..."

With that, he gave him a push.

Xu Qian understood Lin Fan’s intention. He activated his ability and began to walk away from the group.

The moment Ye Qingniao heard that this otaku-looking young man was also an Awakened One, she had already dropped her disdainful attitude. But as Xu Qian walked away, her eyes grew wider and wider.

"Holy shit... Invisibility?"

"No, it’s more than invisibility."

"His very presence just vanished..."

A few of the old soldiers standing near Ye Qingzhou muttered to each other.

But their senses were clearly sharp, and they quickly realized Xu Qian’s ability wasn’t invisibility, but rather a power to erase himself from everyone’s focus...

Even Ye Qingniao stared wide-eyed, a dark blue light flickering in their depths. Despite this, her expression was one of pure astonishment.

"Does his ability... does it work on zombies, too?"

Since she couldn’t tell where Xu Qian was, she had no choice but to turn and ask Lin Fan.

"Mm-hmm..."

Lin Fan just gave a nod.

"...Fine. But he follows our orders. No acting on his own initiative."

Seeing that his ability was indeed perfect for a reconnaissance mission, Ye Qingniao relented and agreed.

"Then, you all..."

Seeing that even Ye Qingniao had no more objections, Ye Qingzhou began to speak, her eyes scanning the group as if to ask, ’Anyone else?’

"You know what? I’ll go with you too,"

Lin Fan said, interrupting Ye Qingzhou after a moment’s hesitation.

The moment the words left his mouth, all eyes turned to him, making him feel a little self-conscious.

Only Chu Zhaozhao, who was standing behind him, seemed to understand what he was up to. Seeing that Lin Fan was going, she decisively raised her hand and said,

"Then I’m going too!"