Kingdom of Corrosion
Chapter 961 - 415 Autumn_2

Chapter 961: Chapter 415 Autumn_2

Shana calculated, "The handcar has a speed of 20 kilometers per hour, and we are 120 kilometers away from the Western Peninsula. It will take 6 hours to get there. If all goes well, we can make a round trip within a day."

Stone said, "Are we not factoring in danger? I don’t believe Lin Wu will be dedicated to hand-cranking the whole way, and Lin Meng doesn’t have the physical strength. So it’ll definitely take no less than ten hours to get there."

Maya suggested, "Then let’s estimate two days for the trip. If we encounter a train blocking the way, we’ll just hide the handcar and proceed on foot. Besides, Stone and I have discussed recruiting a professional doctor in the past few days, and the Western Peninsula should be a good choice."

Little Knife added, "Frankly, it’s too boring here, so it wouldn’t hurt to go out for a change. If the handcar can make a path to the Western Peninsula, we can take the Stone mobile for a drive in the future."

Everyone agreed, and Lin Wu asked, "Anyone want to step up and take Lin Meng’s place?"

Lin Meng clasped his hands over his chest and looked pitifully at everyone.

Shana said, "I’ll prepare insulin injections for Lin Meng and keep them in a foam box with ice blocks. They should be fine for two days." Where would the ice come from? Naturally from the refrigerator, which they had acquired at the railway bridge base after putting the Stone mobile into use.

Maya confirmed, "Alright, let’s do it that way. Snow Egg, drive the Stone mobile onto the branch line so we can get the handcar through. Lin Wu and Lin Meng, get ready. Don’t carry rifles; they’re too conspicuous. Bring handguns instead, with extra bullets. Also pack food, water, lighters, drones, flashlights, ropes, and other regular travel essentials."

Little Knife said to Lin Wu, "Try to bring back some rice or flour."

"Got it," Lin Wu said, standing in front of the stove, resting a hand on the railway bridge’s railing, and looking back at everyone, "If I die, let this be my headstone. Engrave on it everything worth bragging about, and everything not."

Stone replied dryly, "Fine, I’ll burn three incense sticks for you every day."

Lin Meng announced, "Uncle, I want a spot opposite Lin Wu."

Stone turned to Maya, "And you? You want to reserve a spot too?"

Maya gave Stone a glance and said, "Immature."

Stone became exasperated, "Why didn’t you say anything when they were talking?"

Maya sighed deeply.

...

Once prepared, the first task was to find the VIP at the nearby warehouse. Thanks to the nature of the mission, the zombies around the factory buildings had been mostly cleared out. The challenge was less about the danger and more about locating the VIP, who was eventually found shivering in the trunk of a waterlogged car, scared of who knows what.

The VIP was a middle-aged man with a round, portly figure, who turned out to be a banker. He had a whole backstory, but was ignored by Maya and the others as they promptly put him on the handcar. At ten in the morning, the handcar set into motion.

After traversing 15 kilometers on the familiar tracks, Lin Wu got off to adjust the switchgear, and they left the city behind, heading toward the Western Peninsula. This was the first time Lin Wu and his group had left the city.

Everyone was in high spirits at first. After leaving the city, the tracks ran along the mountainside, bordered by towering mountains on one side and raging water on the other. The mood was spoiled by none other than the VIP. Not even ten minutes out of the city, he demanded to use the bathroom and refused to relieve himself just anywhere.

After some negotiation, Lin Wu took his entrenching tool to dig a hole by the tracks and used a waterproof cloth to set up some privacy. Lin Wu and Lin Meng held up the cloth, enduring the stench for 15 minutes while the VIP relieved himself.

Less than ten minutes after resuming the journey, the VIP began to complain of hunger. He refused dry instant noodles and canned food, insisting on eating medium-rare sirloin steak. In the end, it took some convincing with the entrenching tool from Lin Wu to get him to settle down. It was evident that he really didn’t like the food they had brought; even when hungry, he would just pick at it haphazardly.

Lin Wu didn’t care, as long as the VIP didn’t make a racket or waste their time. Starving for two days, or even going without water, wasn’t going to kill him. Besides, the mission didn’t specify that the VIP had to be alive when boarding the ship.

Later on, the VIP somehow started to nonchalantly touch Lin Meng’s thigh. At first, Lin Meng thought it was unintentional. As the VIP grew bolder, Lin Meng swiftly brandished her knife and cut off one of his ears, making them lose 5 minutes to bandage him up. They spent another five minutes wrapping the VIP up like a rice dumpling.

VIP protester shouted fiercely, "Do you know who I am? I’m a banker. Have you ever seen a banker who only deals in low-interest, high-interest loans for a profit margin?"

Lin Wu took off a sock and handed it over, Lin Meng stuffed the sock into the protester’s mouth, wrapped two loops of tape around, and in an instant the world became infinitely better.

Across the river was a highway, and along the side of the road, one could see tents or rain shelters made of plastic sheets. The ground was littered with a lot of garbage, and there were dedicated rag pickers collecting unwanted tents. Down by the riverbank, numerous corpses had been dumped. Some of the bodies had been soaked until they were unbearably disfigured.

The river was about a hundred meters wide, and most people did not notice the hand-cranked cart on the opposite shore. Those who did notice merely watched numbly, as a sense of despair permeated the air above the highway.

Around lunchtime, a convoy composed of hundreds of people appeared on the highway. These were refugees who had spontaneously organized to head towards the Western Peninsula. Since it was still a game, there were limits, no instances of cannibalism or selling one’s body for food occurred, and the elderly and children were excluded. Even so, the sight was still shockingly disturbing for Lin Wu and his group.

They faced difficulties not only from the hundred-kilometer journey, stemming not just from hunger, but also from internal quarrels and brawls. The hand-cranked cart moved ahead of them as Lin Wu and two others took a break to have lunch. The highway convoy caught up; they had no lunch, and Lin Wu and the others put away their food and waited for the crowd to pass. It was then that shouting erupted from the center of the crowd, people started running outwards, and those on the edges stood on tiptoes to look inside, resulting in utter chaos.

Maya, using binoculars for a while, observed, "It’s the zombies; they must have drunk contaminated water. There’s a small group that has mutated collectively."

The squad could only watch helplessly as they continued forward. By one in the afternoon, with 20 kilometers left to reach the Western Peninsula, zombies appeared on the railway tracks. The hand-cart stopped, and the few people observed the zombies 30 meters away with an ominous premonition. After wiping out the zombies and moving forward about a hundred meters, a zombie train was stopped on the tracks.

It was a small station, with a river to the left of the railway tracks and Xiao Xi Station to the right, and behind the station was an open area with a road built through it, connecting the station to a small village about two hundred meters away.

This was a seven-car modern passenger train, and its seating capacity was not very high. The zombies had completely taken over the station, centering around the station without scattering, seemingly attracted to something inside the station.

Maya looked at the name of the station, pulled out a map, and said, "Xiao Xi Station, approximately 18 kilometers from the entrance to the Western Peninsula, and about 25 kilometers from the naval base."

Maya said, "One option is to go on foot." Abandoning the hand-cranked cart, walking around the zombie crowd had its cons: the heavy burden, the longer time it would take, and managing a disobedient VIP.

"The second option is to take a detour." The weight of the hand-cranked cart was 180 kilograms; it could be moved off the railway tracks. The three of them would have to first transfer their supplies and then carry the cart across. The downside was the increased danger and the limited space for detours. The distance was longer, requiring a walk of over 500 meters.

Lin Wu asked, "Should we send the luggage to the side of the road first, then come back for the cart?"

Maya appeared worried and said, "Theoretically, it’s feasible, but are there people in this village?"

The open area was shallow, and it seemed that the four visible households were all there was. Due to geographical reasons, people on the highway wouldn’t easily discover this small village, but just in front of the village, there was also a steel cable bridge, which did not rule out the possibility of survivors taking refuge inside the village.

If they first transferred their supplies and left the VIP behind, they might be plundered by survivors within the village upon returning, or even the VIP might get killed. Leaving one person behind to guard the supplies and having the other two carry the nearly two-hundred-kilogram hand-cranked cart without making too much noise was also quite challenging.

Lin Wu said, "Lin Meng and I will deal with it."

Maya said, "Mindless killing is always bad. Let Lin Meng guard the supplies." No zombies had been spotted near the buildings, making the presence of survivors highly probable.

"Alright."

The trio packed up their belongings, put on a few backpacks, and proceeded towards the open area along the base of the mountain, then circumventing the station. Along the way, Lin Wu kept an eye out for survivors but found none, though the farmland in front of the households clearly had been recently tilled. If locals were around to greet them, the group would have felt more reassured, but the situation was making Lin Ma somewhat nervous.

Maya whispered, "Looking at the architecture of the village, it was probably a hunter’s house or similar before the virus outbreak, potentially stocked with bows or even hunting rifles."

Lin Wu said, "We haven’t revealed our handguns and only have a few melee weapons. If their strength is strong, they would have shown themselves."

Maya instructed, "Lin Meng, if there’s an emergency, you will have to make your own judgment on what to do."

Lin Meng nodded in acknowledgment, "Mhm."