CHAPTER 597: CHAPTER 595: THE STRANGE CORPSE

He led everyone out.

It took only a block away and a morning’s time when Su Mo brought back all of Mu Rou’s people.

When they emerged from their hiding place, they were shocked by the speed of their rescue, and even more surprised to hear that all of Hua Nong’s people had perished.

Mu Rou, however, wasn’t too astonished, as she had long understood the strength of Su Mo and her group. In this post-apocalyptic world, they had always been among those at the pinnacle, and now even more so.

She walked over with her group and sincerely thanked them.

Lu Chen also brought out a portion of the goods they had scavenged from the top floor, and it was a considerable haul that in no way could be considered a loss.

Seeing that they all looked quite happy, Su Mo couldn’t help but say, "Although we’ve retrieved the supplies, that building still contains a lot of things. It would be better for you to leave this block."

Mu Rou, whose smile had been genuine, pursed her lips, "But we don’t know where to go next."

"Do you have a vehicle?"

Mu Rou looked at her and nodded, "Yes, we have a few standby vehicles."

Su Mo: "How many people can you fit?"

"That’s definitely not an issue here, we even have a school bus that we just retrieved recently."

Su Mo’s eyes lit up, "Then come with us to the P city refugee camp, but on the way, we need to detour through a village to pick up a group of people."

Mu Rou was somewhat excited too. She and the newly-formed group of sisters looked at each other, "We have been isolated here all this time; we didn’t even know that P city had a refugee camp!"

Su Mo turned to look at Lu Chen, "With so many people, why don’t we have Jianxiong and Li He head back? How about just the two of us go to Luohe?"

Before the man could reply, Jianxiong immediately shook his head, "No, I’m not at ease. The bunker in Luohe is in the mountains; surely, there must be countless Mutant Beasts or poisonous insects. It will be a bit safer with me and Li He along."

Li He also said, "Jianxiong is right."

After contemplating for a moment, Li Qian said in a gentle voice, "It’s alright, I’ll try to avoid routes dense with zombies as much as possible. We shouldn’t run into any major issues."

They had come out with only a few people, and Luohe was an unknown place with a difficulty level no one had ever assessed. Lu Chen agreed, "Safe return."

Su Mo took out a good amount of tea and water from the System Bag and stuffed it into Zhao Changsheng’s arms, "Since it’s still afternoon and the light is good, we better hurry."

Mu Rou called for help to carry the goods away, and after thanking Su Mo again, she ran to start the vehicles.

All the women and the researchers boarded the school bus and truck that Mu Rou drove out, with plenty of seats to spare. Su Mo deployed another combat vehicle, and Lu Chen stuffed a few boxes of oil and food into the trunk, saying, "Remember to pick up those villagers."

"Got it, come back soon," Zhao Changsheng hugged Su Mo tightly, reluctantly getting into the combat vehicle.

After bidding farewell to them, Mu Rou took advantage of the remaining daylight and the three vehicles disappeared onto the streets.

Now only the four of them were left. They didn’t plan on staying here any longer, so they got into the combat vehicle and continued on their way in the sunlight.

There was a three-day journey left to Luohe.

Their route became more and more remote, often heading towards the mountains, with Lu Chen and Jianxiong taking turns driving.

The jungle here was incredibly dense. When they were halfway through, a giant tree had fallen across the path, blocking their way and obscuring most of the view with its thick trunk.

Jianxiong got out of the vehicle and walked up to the ancient tree. After transforming, he placed his hands on it, squatted slightly, then shouldered it with force to push it aside.

What met their eyes was a ground full of corpses.

Dressed in camouflage combat uniforms, their bodies were so swollen that their clothes were almost bursting at the seams.

It was somewhat eerie. For safety, Li He was told to stay in the car while Su Mo and Lu Chen got out and walked over to take a closer look at the corpses.

"Why are there so many soldiers here?" Su Mo squatted down in front of a body, which looked as though it had been soaking in lake water for many days, bloated and puffed up.

"The way they look, it’s as if they drowned," Jianxiong moved forward and saw several bodies all in the same condition.

Just as Su Mo was about to stand up, her ears twitched, and she immediately turned her head to see a pitch-black gun barrel hidden in the woods.

Her face darkened as she said, "We’re not alone."

"Don’t move!"

The sudden warning coming from the woods halted the three people outside, and Li He, who was sitting in the car, had a gun pressed against his head.

Dozens of soldiers dressed in combat uniforms burst out from the trees, surrounding them completely.

Lu Chen reacted almost immediately, "Have you set up a military stronghold here?"

His indifferent and composed demeanor caught the attention of the soldiers beside him.

The more they looked at him, the more familiar he seemed—they felt as if they had seen him somewhere before.

"Lu Chen."

The man voluntarily gave his name, which was well-known across all military districts, prompting the others to scrutinize his appearance once more and marvel at how it matched the face of the man they had seen on recorded tapes.

"Admiral Lu?" Finally, someone uncertainly asked.

"It’s me."

The whole place erupted into whispers, and everyone instinctively put away their guns. Someone couldn’t help but ask, "What brings you here? A city is a long way from here."

"Passing through, headed for Luohe."

At the mention of Luohe, the faces of these men changed, and Su Mo couldn’t help but ask curiously, "Is there a problem?"

All they said was, "Luohe is not very safe right now."

"Since it’s getting dark, why don’t you come back with us? General Luo must be looking forward to meeting Admiral Lu."

Indeed, it was nearly dark, and Lu Chen didn’t refuse. They got into the armored vehicle, and after it went in, the giant tree that had been moved aside was put back in place by the soldiers to block the path.

"Hiss"

A skinny soldier felt a numbness in his shoulder and reflexively covered it. His companion asked, "What’s wrong?"

He covered up his startled expression, "It’s nothing. I’ve been carrying the gun for too long these last few days. Let’s hurry up and get moving."

The soldiers’ military stronghold was also deep in the woods, but they had cleared a large area of land. Looking down from above, it was as if a large chunk had been carved out of the dense forest.

Many army-green tents were pitched in the area, with several fires on the open ground where pots were hung, cooking some unknown food.

Su Mo and the others were led into the largest tent, where a middle-aged man was sitting, looking at a map with his head down.

"General Luo, Admiral Lu has arrived," the soldier reported and then left.

"What ’Admiral Lu’?" Luo Cong lifted his head, his face showing an impatient expression that suddenly shifted to one of excitement, "Lu Chen?"