CHAPTER 84: CHAPTER 84: THE CONTENTS OF THE SUPPLY CRATE

Seeing the supply box stuck in the trees, Ye Fan was overjoyed. If it weren’t for the trees trapping it, it would have been quite difficult to catch as it floated down the river.

The motorcycle advanced and finally reached near the supply box.

Zhuge Yunxue got off the bike, really ready to take off her clothes and dive in to retrieve the supply box.

Ye Fan, like a gentleman, turned his back, facing away from Zhuge Yunxue, and extended a hand, ready to hold her clothes.

He had no intention of sneaking a peek; he understood the principle of not looking at what’s improper.

This motorcycle was actually quite good, the mirrors looked of high quality, worth studying a bit.

Before Ye Fan could receive the clothes, he suddenly froze.

Because he heard voices coming from afar.

Zhuge Yunxue immediately stopped her action of undressing, quickly coming to Ye Fan’s side: "Officer, there’s movement."

Ye Fan hurriedly opened the radar.

On the radar screen, the river ahead curved around a mound, and people were coming from that bend.

Previously, Ye Fan’s attention had been on the supply box and other matters, not paying attention to the screen, so he hadn’t noticed.

Two blue dots, indicating two survivors.

If there are only two of them, there’s nothing to worry about. Both he and Zhuge Yunxue were armed, and even if they were two evolvers, they had the strength to fight.

Since there were people coming, they didn’t rush to retrieve the supply box, watching the appearance of those people over there.

Soon, the two people turned the bend, Ye Fan closed his right eye, and immediately saw their situation clearly.

They weren’t evolvers, just two ordinary survivors.

The two had fishing rods and baskets on their backs, one held a crossbow arrow, and the other a long spear, searching along the river for a suitable fishing spot.

Seeing this scene, Ye Fan thought these two had quite the nerve. In a world full of crises, they still had the mood for fishing.

Ye Fan saw them, and they saw Ye Fan and Zhuge Yunxue.

The two survivors were stunned at first, then actually walked over toward them.

Ye Fan and Zhuge Yunxue also approached them.

The four of them met on the riverbank.

Ye Fan smiled and asked, "You two have quite the leisure to come out fishing, don’t you?"

The two survivors first glanced at Ye Fan’s chest, noticing the Dawn Army insignia, then tentatively asked.

"Young man, you’re not from the Huacheng Survivor Alliance, are you?"

"No, we are from the Dawn Army."

"Dawn Army, never heard of it, probably not a big force."

Ye Fan nodded. In terms of numbers, his Dawn Army was indeed not a major power.

"Are you two from the Survivor Alliance?"

The two middle-aged men gave a bitter smile: "No, we are survivors from Baoshan Town, just a small group not qualified to join the Survivor Alliance."

"Oh, but I heard on the radio that the Survivor Alliance is searching along Star River for survivors, why can’t you join?"

"That’s what they say, but they don’t recruit people for free. Only by providing a certain amount of entrance resources can you join their base, otherwise, you can only become their protected area, and even have to pay taxes."

"You have to pay entrance resources? And pay taxes? How do you pay taxes?"

"The entrance resources are quite expensive, you need to provide various items of equivalent value, like diesel, firearms, food, and medicine. Our small groups simply can’t collect that much, so the Alliance won’t take us in, but to survive around Huacheng, we have to pay them taxes."

The other man chimed in: "The tax is a head tax, their Alliance has a set rule standard, listing the value of various resources. Each of us needs to pay a head tax worth not less than fifty kilograms of food every month, so in times of danger, we can burn signal flares for help or temporarily seek refuge there."

Hearing this, the two survivors were a bit worried: "Their search is just a way to gather resources. The first batch of Tax Officers has already arrived at our Baoshan Town, and they will have lunch here. We have nothing good to eat there, so we had to come out and fish for them."

Hearing the survivors’ account, Ye Fan felt somewhat displeased.

This Survivor Alliance seemed a bit too much.

In a world where zombies devour humans, surviving is already extremely difficult, yet they have to endure such exploitation.

Moreover, the protection they provide seems rather flimsy; it’s almost impossible to succeed in asking for help or escaping in real danger.

Even though it was frustrating to hear, Ye Fan did not offer aid to these two survivors. In such apocalyptic times, people have to rely on themselves; he could help these two, but there are countless others like them, whom he couldn’t help.

Moreover, even if he were to continue taking in survivors, it would have to be after the base is completed; now is not the time.

One of the men asked Ye Fan, "Young man, you seem more relaxed than us. Is your Dawn Army far from here?"

When he said this, Ye Fan sensed an inquisitive tone from the man.

Perhaps if Ye Fan told him, he might go back and inform the Tax Officer and turn Ye Fan in.

Though this was merely conjecture, in apocalyptic times, caution was necessary.

Ye Fan chuckled, "No worries, I live over in the Goldmine area, it’s quite far."

Saying this, Ye Fan casually pointed in a direction.

The man opposite suddenly laughed, "Haha! Don’t kid us, the old gold mine is clearly in the mountains, over twenty kilometers inward from there."

As he spoke, the man pointed in a direction with a gleeful look, evidently proud of exposing Ye Fan’s fabrication.

Ye Fan’s expression suddenly turned cold, "So what if I was bluffing? Leave! There are no fish here!"

The two men were a bit unhappy, "Why are you like this...?"

Ye Fan pulled out his silenced submachine gun. "That’s just how I am. In this world, shouldn’t you speak softly to the person with a gun? Do I really need to teach you this principle?"

The two men panicked, hurriedly turned and retreated. This young man flipped at a moment’s notice, too dangerous.

They quickly left, Ye Fan considered killing the two survivors, but the other party hadn’t done anything evil; they were just ordinary people. Ye Fan was not one to kill over an inquiry.

The Goldmine’s location had been found out; that was today’s biggest gain.

Watching the survivors walk away, Ye Fan then turned back, the supply box still floating in the water.

Zhuge Yunxue prepared to go into the water for the second time.

Suddenly, the sound of another vehicle arose.

Ye Fan looked, this time it was his own people, the armored vehicle from headquarters had arrived.

The vehicle reached nearby, and Shen Ruihui along with a few soldiers from the guard platoon jumped out.

Running all the way to Ye Fan’s side, Shen Ruihui said, "Sir, you moved out too quickly, and the armored vehicle couldn’t advance along the riverbank, so I arrived late with protection; please punish me, Sir!"

Ye Fan waved his hand, "There’s nothing to punish. I didn’t blame you; let’s hurry back, we will be going back soon too."

Shen Ruihui nodded and was about to get in the vehicle, when he suddenly saw the supply box in the water.

He immediately felt he had a chance to earn merits.

Such a task as retrieving the box from the water was exactly what he should be doing, wasn’t it?

A superior and a female comrade; it wasn’t appropriate for either of them. Shen Ruihui had no excuse!

Qiao Sanyou, born after him, was already the Second Company’s Company Commander, and the superior had established the Third Company but had yet to appoint a Company Commander.

Wasn’t he the best candidate?

Without saying a word, Shen Ruihui handed his gun to the nearby soldier, stripped off his outerwear, and dove into the river with a splash.

He swam forth with freestyle, pushing the box back with a frog kick.

On the riverbank, soaked from head to toe, he stood before Ye Fan, handing over the box.

"Sir! Got the supply box!"

Ye Fan expressionlessly patted Shen Ruihui’s shoulder, "Well done, get in the vehicle."

"Yes!"

Shen Ruihui felt the silent encouragement from his superior, his heart filled with joy.

It seemed like the position of Third Company Commander was as good as his.

Before getting in, Shen Ruihui turned and saw his superior exert force, suddenly prying the supply box open!

A huge black shadow plunged into the water with a splash, the river water splashing, and a water column shooting up over twenty meters high!

Sea Monster!!!