Chapter 33: 33 The Fog Has Cleared
"Our community is located on the northern outskirts of the city, near the outer ring road. We can only consider nearby places because the fog is too thick to travel far."
A map was spread out, and Su Han roughly pointed to the location of the Happiness Community. The community was not near the core, but rather near the main road leading in and out of the city to the north.
Zhu Xiong pondered and then said, "The main concerns are water, supplies, and safety; these three things are critical. In the northern part of the city, other than the two rivers, the only other option for finding water is to dig wells. Otherwise, it's going to be a hassle."
He pointed on the map to a small river in the north of the city that flowed from the northeast into South City, passing under the main entrance road, then heading southwest and finally merging into the Xihui River.
Though South City was situated in the south, with abundant rainfall year-round, it only had three rivers due to being built against a mountain: two small ones in the north and south, with a larger one in between.
The Northern Little River was one of the two rivers in the north of the city, and the Nanxiao River was located near the factory area in the south, also known as the Shanyin River. The largest river in the middle was formed by the confluence of Donghui River and Xihui River, collectively referred to as the South River.
In the city, the easiest sources of water to access were a few rivers or perhaps some wells left from before, but Zhu Xiong did not know about the wells.
Zhu Xiong pointed to a school situated downstream of the two rivers and said, "South City No.1 Middle School, close to the two rivers and surrounded by its original walls. I think we could go there."
"Brother Zhu, I don't think that's a good idea."
Gan Xinglei spoke out against the idea, "The place is secure, but how many people do we have? We just can't cover it all, and moreover..."
After a slight hesitation, he added, "There are students inside."
Zhu Xiong was taken aback, "Survivor students? What's the big deal about that?"
Gan Xinglei clenched his teeth and said, "The more people there are, the more monsters there will be. Even if the fog came early that morning, not all the students might be there, but the number is definitely not small. And even if they're survivors, middle schoolers are just kids. What can you expect them to do? Fight monsters or work?"
Zhu Xiong's expression stiffened, and he fell silent.
A burden—that was the most troublesome part. Could they really encounter these kids and then drive them away or enslave them?
"Actually, we don't necessarily have to be at a school."
Yan Meiyu spoke up, pointing out two places, one to the east of the Happiness Community and another to the west.
"About ten kilometers to the east is the Sunshine Community, originally a mid-to-high-end residential area with a selling point of being surrounded by the two rivers, allowing access to water sources. Even if we don't draw water from the two rivers, digging a well there should yield water.
I remember when they were building the complex, there was serious water seepage, and after exploration, it should be close to an underground river."
Su Han, Zhu Xiong, Gan Xinglei: ?
What's this about a mid-to-high-end residential area in such an environment?
Surely insider information, she knew quite a lot. Su Han then asked, "What about the other place?"
The other location was merely a blank space on the map, indistinguishable as anything particular, a drawback of paper maps compared to electronic ones due to outdated versions.
"Shanhu Villa District, a mid-range villa complex built just two years ago, relies on Yunling Mountain and Yunling Lake. Though the lake is artificial and made by the developer, it's large enough and connected to both the groundwater and the mountain's water bodies, ensuring stable water supply. We don't have many people, so a single villa would be just right."
Yan Meiyu suddenly gave two options, both more detailed than the information provided by Zhu Xiong. Su Han thought for a moment.
The school was not a good choice for the time being. People were one aspect, and on the other hand, South City No.1 Middle School was farther in, leaning towards the central part of South City, with dense buildings and a similarly large population, which likely meant just as many monsters.
Going there with their current strength could prove to be too much; they might not even be able to clear a single school.
Although the Sunshine Community did not have a huge surrounding population, as a residential area, it already had a large number of original residents, and no one knew what chaos it might be in.
At this point, it seemed that only Shanhu Villa District was suitable. If they set aside the northern part of the city, actually the southern industrial area would be more appropriate.
That place had vast land and numerous factories with the fewest people.
However, with the fog this thick, traveling from one end of the city to the other was impossible.
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"Let's head to Shanhu Villa," Su Han made a decision and circled the location on the map, then said, "But we can't go directly. We need vehicles, supplies, and people."
"People?"
The three of them looked puzzled and turned to Su Han to ask, "Do you want to take others with us?"
"If there are people willing to go and are ready to work, then we'll take them."
Su Han nodded. He had his own considerations and said, "The Lamp Tree needs energy, and just the four of us providing it without damaging the foundation is too little. Besides, there's too much work to do, and the four of us alone can't handle it all."
If it were just about scavenging for supplies, the four of them might barely manage.
However, as time goes on, things will only get more difficult. Some need to stay behind, handle logistics, and others must go out to explore... Four people simply can't do all these things.
Not to mention, in this apocalyptic world, strength is key. If everyone is busy with other things, when will they have time to train the Angel Envoy and increase their strength?
Does Su Han have time to perform more Fusion?
You should know, he hasn't even started his next Fusion.
"Su Han makes sense. With just the four of us, indeed we can't do it all."
Zhu Xiong thought about it and added, "Just the supplies we have now won't fit in a single SUV. We'll need people to drive, inside and out. It's better to get hold of more vehicles."
Currently, there were still many cars in the open-air parking lot on the first floor of the community. After scouring the buildings, they also found some car keys. It was fairly easy to locate the vehicles and drive them away using the keys they had.
But going to a new place, if you want to get a vehicle without keys, it requires a certain criminal skill.
Old Zhu couldn't handle that, and he believed neither Su Han nor Gan Xinglei would be able to either.
After some thought, Su Han said, "The car is also a problem. Old Zhu, discreetly spread the word these next few days. Whoever has car keys and can point out where the cars are parked can exchange them for supplies with us."
"No problem, leave that to me," Old Zhu responded.
After the group briefly finalized their plans, Gan Xinglei continued to be in charge of observing any changes to the Lamp Tree while Yan Meiyu took turns with him. Brother Zhu was leveraging his nature as a social terror, starting by handing out cigarettes to the security team.
The security team knew a lot of information. Starting with them, it wasn't long before they could find the cars they needed, making the process of collecting the cars easier.
A day or two passed, and both Gan Xinglei and Zhu Xiong brought good news. After a lot of training, their Angel Envoys had both completed their Advancement, becoming First-level Intermediates.
As they advanced, the strength feedback greatly improved their physical condition, roughly doubling the average person's build.
The overweight Gan Xinglei and pot-bellied Zhu Xiong had both lost a layer of fat, their muscles became firmer, and their overall spirit improved significantly.
"Bang bang bang"
They had just made their breakthrough in strength, but early that day, someone suddenly knocked on Su Han's door.
Zhang Fu's voice came from outside, "Brother Su Han, get up quick, the fog is thinning!"
In the room, as soon as Su Han heard this news, he immediately opened the door, and upon seeing Zhang Fu's somewhat excited expression, he quickly asked, "What's going on?"
"I don't know the reason, but when I woke up this morning, the fog had thinned a lot. You should head to the hall first. Captain Cheng is already there, and we think we might be able to explore the supermarket now."
"Click"
The rest of the doors opened, and just as Gan Xinglei and the others heard the commotion, they came out of their rooms.
"You're just in time. Come with me to the hall."
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