Chapter 250: The Phoenix Man Who Soared Before the Apocalypse (56)

After settling the elderly and children of the village, Shen Xiuyan led the supernatural ability users toward the county seat.

With Shen Xiuyan overseeing everything, they spent several days clearing out the area ahead of them.

Of course, there were still a few survivors scattered throughout the region.

When those survivors realized they had been rescued, they stepped out hesitantly, hearts full of uncertainty.

What awaited them was a unified lecture from Brother Lei.

With his burly build, tattoos on his arms, and the aura of supernatural power radiating from him, everything about him screamed that he was not someone to mess with.

The survivors stood in absolute silence, waiting for him to speak.

Brother Lei thoroughly enjoyed the attention. Puffing out his chest proudly, he basked in the moment.

After indulging for a bit, he quickly grabbed a loudspeaker and shouted that this area was now under their control. From now on, everyone had to follow their arrangements. The elderly and women could stay to handle logistics in exchange for paying lodging fees with Core Crystals. But the men—especially those of working age—would have to head to the front lines to fight zombies.

Of course, they weren’t sending them to their deaths. Everything would be organized and disciplined.

If anyone didn’t want to follow the rules, they were free to leave right now. No one would force them to stay.

Everyone: “…”

What a convincing “no one will force you.”

They looked at the hellscape outside the fence, then down at the safe ground beneath their feet.

The answer was obvious…

It felt like their chances of survival were better sticking with this group.

Either way, death was always lurking. Might as well cling to life a little longer with these people.

With that mindset, the entire crowd remained silent. Not a single person dared to object to Brother Lei’s words.

Shen Xiuyan was very pleased with their tact.

And so, day by day, their forces grew.

There weren’t just ordinary people in the county—there were supernatural ability users too. As their territory expanded, those ability users began to surface.

Supernatural ability users were proud and arrogant, naturally unwilling to submit.

Unfortunately for them, the man they encountered was Shen Xiuyan.

Shen Xiuyan had no patience for troublemakers.

Whenever he discovered someone rebellious or hot-headed, he struck swiftly, beating them down until they had no fight left.

Anyone who continued to act out or play dirty tricks—if caught—would only have one fate: becoming zombie food.

After a few such incidents, everyone figured out Shen Xiuyan’s temperament.

This man was nothing like the approachable face he wore. He was a ruthless, iron-blooded enforcer.

Someone they absolutely could not afford to offend.

Rather than getting beaten into submission, it was better not to provoke him at all.

And so, his reputation for iron-fisted rule spread. Even places they hadn’t yet reached had already heard that Shen Xiuyan was not to be trifled with.

Not to mention, later on, Shen Xiuyan and his team accidentally cleared out the county’s armory.

Now fully armed to the teeth, his authority became absolute.

Half a year passed, and to everyone’s surprise, the small county town actually began to develop just as Shen Xiuyan had envisioned.

The process went so smoothly, even he found it hard to believe.

Looking at the thriving little town, Shen Xiuyan was incredibly satisfied.

But amidst that satisfaction, there was still a trace of discontent.

He always felt the town was short on manpower—especially lacking top-tier scientific researchers. The foundation of the town still felt shaky.

So Shen Xiuyan once again gathered the leadership for a small meeting.

“I think the base is stable now, but we’re clearly short on people, especially scholars in various fields. So I want to go out and see if I can trick—cough, I mean, find some people to bring back.”

Everyone: “…”

Your face already says you plan to lure and coerce people. No need to act anymore.

They understood.

Shen Xiuyan cleared his throat. “Don’t look at me like that. You’re making me look like some kind of villain.”

Everyone: You are!

Shen Xiuyan, now both embarrassed and annoyed, snapped, “No one’s getting out of this plan. Everyone will form teams and head out. I’m sure other bases have been established by now. We’ll visit them and see if there are any useful talents. If we can spread the good name of our base and get them to join us voluntarily, even better.”

Young Master Huo stroked his chin. “Sounds like you’re trying to poach people. But… hehe, I like it.”

Who knows what he was thinking, but he grinned like a sly old fox.

Shen Xiuyan shivered. No wonder he was a capitalist before the Apocalypse. Who knew what kind of schemes he was brewing now?

Still, he was very much looking forward to the results.

*

It was a clear and sunny day, the sky high and the air crisp.

As Shen Xiuyan had instructed, team after team set out from the base in convoys.

They scattered in all directions, searching aimlessly for clues about other bases.

Of course, Shen Xiuyan was among them.

He, Su Mingyue, Young Master Huo, and A Cai set off in a vehicle heading south from the base.

Shen Xiuyan had already marked their destination on the map, so their travel was efficient.

Along the way, they rescued many people and gathered more accurate information.

Currently, there were three major bases in the Apocalypse: the Blazing Flame Base in H City, the Lingfei Base in S Town, and the Huayun Base in Y City.

The first two were apparently ruled by supernatural ability users. The Y City base was managed by the military. Perhaps because people still trusted the government, those with some strength preferred to head to Y City’s Huayun Base.

As for the countless other small and medium-sized bases, no one could say exactly how many there were. Even those they asked along the way didn’t know.

Shen Xiuyan had no intention of clashing head-on with the three big bases. He didn’t have the power to compete with them for people.

So he changed course and chose a nearby small base instead.

When they arrived at that small base, they found the management in utter chaos.

People were gathered at the gate, unsure how long they had been waiting. No one had opened the door.

This kind of aimless waiting was extremely dangerous. No one knew when a zombie—or a horde—might appear.

But the people at the gate were angry yet silent.

Some wanted to leave, but didn’t have the means to reach another base.

Those who did have the means were burdened with families and worried about all sorts of things…

Everyone was clinging to the hope that if they just waited a little longer, the gates would open.

Shen Xiuyan really did have good luck. Not long after he arrived, the base’s gate finally opened.

“Yo, quite the crowd,” said the base’s manager, his tone cocky and insolent. “Those who came on foot, line up on the left. Those in vehicles, line up on the right. Everyone queue up! You’ll be inspected before entry!”

After another long wait, it was finally Shen Xiuyan’s group’s turn. The manager at the gate lit up the moment he saw them.

Damn. They had a car—and a clean one at that. Didn’t look like it had been stolen along the way.

There was a woman too, fair-skinned and delicate. Judging by her appearance, she hadn’t been through much hardship in the Apocalypse.

That meant the car probably held a lot of supplies. At the very least, they’d been living well on the road.

He reached out to block the vehicle and shouted, “Everyone inside, get out. Routine inspection.”