Chapter 489 – The Figure Emerging from the Wilderness

“Come on…”

Poof—

As Xiao Bai’s massive body finally squeezed halfway through, he suddenly paused.

Then he frantically extended his paw, clawing desperately towards Ling Mo: “MeGu (I’m stuck)…”

“Hmm…” Ling Mo turned his head, ignoring the two silly creatures—a beast and a corpse—and walked towards the other end of the alley, “Everything is ready. It’s time for us to take action. And that helper… should be arriving soon…”

“MeGu?!”

“Hey, Sausage Humans! Stop right there! Ye Lian… I’m stuck here… Hey, can you see me?”

…

From the outside, this incident seemed to have no impact on the Air Force Corps.

Inside the high Barbed Wire, everything appeared as usual.

On the Watchtower, several black gun barrels were aimed at the wilderness outside.

Occasionally, gunshots rang out, and you could see Zombies suddenly springing up in the wilderness, falling before they could reach the Barbed Wire.

In addition to the Watchtower, there were many other security points.

This small Airport wasn’t easy to defend in terms of size, but its advantage was its location in the suburbs, far from the town, with no dense residential areas nearby.

Though Zombies occasionally appeared nearby, drawn by the scent, they weren’t enough to pose a significant threat.

With Helicopters frequently scouting the area, any large-scale Zombie or Survivor approach would be detected early.

As for the few humans… they were either seeking refuge or just wandering nearby.

So far, no one had dared to provoke them.

“Want a smoke?”

A man with a gun slung over his shoulder walked up to a security point not far from the entrance and patted the Soldier aiming his gun at the road ahead.

“Xing Yao…”

The Soldier turned to look at the man. Seeing the half-smoked cigarette in his hand, he grinned: “Of course!”

He eagerly took it and inhaled deeply with a blissful expression: “Where’d you get this one?”

“The 9th Squad has been asking about the Helicopter’s findings these past few days. You know, those Search Squad guys won’t talk to them. Captain Li had an incident, and now it’s the Search Squad that’s getting chewed out by the Regimental Commander…”

Seeing the Soldier trying to take a few more drags, Xing Yao quickly snatched the cigarette back with a playful scold, “So, whenever the 9th Squad catches a guard team member heading to the restroom, they sneak in a few questions. And let me tell you, they really know how to spread the wealth always good cigarettes, never stale.”

“No wonder I noticed you’ve been taking more restroom breaks lately. I thought you had a prostate problem…”

The Soldier joked with a laugh.

“Get out of here! You’re the one with the prostate problem. My dick’s healthy, just a bit lonely…”

Xing Yao suddenly nudged the Soldier and lowered his voice, “I heard from the Search Squad that the 9th Squad got really unlucky this time. They were set for some easy glory, but ended up losing two teams, and even the captain went missing. One of their Helicopters got shot down in X City, and the Regimental Commander almost lost his mind…”

“Heh… that Captain Li, he’s probably long gone… Not that it matters to us. But our captain did say we won’t be taking in any new people for a while.”

Taking advantage of Xing Yao’s distraction, the Soldier snatched the cigarette back and sighed, “I was hoping some Survivors would come so I could snag a little bonus… I can’t even remember what alcohol tastes like.”

“Being alive is good enough! Besides, you only joined two months ago, and you’re already learning how to work people…”

Before Xing Yao could finish, his eyes suddenly sharpened. He quickly grabbed his Submachine gun, loaded it, and aimed down the road.

As a “veteran,” his reaction was noticeably faster than the Soldier’s.

“What’s going on?”

The Soldier hurriedly dropped the cigarette and grabbed his gun, “Zombies?”

“Not sure…”

Xing Yao squinted, staring intently at the empty road.

In the wilderness under the road sign, a figure seemed to move.

It was rare to spot someone this close, so both Xing Yao and the Soldier were a bit tense.

Ordinary Zombies weren’t much of an issue, but Senior Zombies or mutation beasts were a different story—those guys were a real pain…

The numerous repair marks on the Barbed Wire were left by those Monsters.

Even one or two of them could lead to a fierce battle, and casualties were not uncommon if they weren’t careful.

Xing Yao glanced at the Barbed Wire ahead, where traces of previous breaches could still be vaguely seen. Many places looked dark and grimy.

That wasn’t rust; it was bloodstains that couldn’t be washed away.

The Soldier’s predecessor had been suddenly grabbed by a Senior Zombie amidst screams and used as a human shield.

After being hit by his comrades’ bullets, the still-screaming guy was torn to pieces by the Senior Zombie right in front of everyone.

That scene was so horrifying that Xing Yao still shuddered at the memory.

Rustle, rustle—

The tall, wild grass swayed again, and Xing Yao immediately tensed up.

Suddenly, a hand reached out from the grass, and then a blood-covered figure tumbled out, collapsing to the ground.

“What is that?”

The angle made it difficult to shoot, and as the two of them kept their guard up, the figure weakly raised a hand and waved.

Then, a hoarse voice came through: “Don’t… don’t shoot…”

“Uh… is it a person?”

The Soldier slowly lowered his gun, puzzled.

But Xing Yao still held his gun, frowning at the figure.

This person… looked somewhat familiar?

…

A few minutes later, Xing Yao stood side by side with the figure.

He reached out to support this shaky individual, enduring the stench of blood and other strange odors emanating from him.

This guy was clearly heavily injured. Though none of the wounds were fatal, he would need a long recovery time.

In fact, most of his weight was hanging on Xing Yao, making it difficult for Xing Yao to move, much to his dismay.

He really wanted to kick this guy off… but on the other hand, he was secretly pleased with the small achievement he had stumbled upon.

Good thing this person didn’t jump out suddenly, or he would have probably been shot…

“Who would have thought Captain Li was still alive…”

Xing Yao sized him up from the corner of his eye, murmuring to himself.

Li Hao, the captain of the 9th Squad, was one of the Survivors who joined the Air Force Corps after the Cataclysm. He held the highest position among them.

Who could have imagined that a single failed mission would plunge him into such a deep abyss?

The Search Squad held less than a fraction of a percent of hope for his survival. They were only looking for him while searching for those enemies.

But who would have thought that this guy, presumed dead by most, would crawl back on his own.

Just looking at his numerous wounds, the dirt-covered appearance, pale skin, and cracked lips, it was clear he had struggled from the brink of death.

Xing Yao didn’t dare to delay. He knew that for the upper echelon of the Air Force Corps, this guy was both a sinner and highly valuable.

“This way…”

As Xing Yao helped Li Hao into the hall, a group of people approached them.

Leading the group was a Middle-aged man. Upon seeing Li Hao, he gave a sneering smile, “Well, if it isn’t Captain Li? You’ve got some nerve coming back! You were so arrogant in the meetings, bet you didn’t see this coming, did you?”

He looked Li Hao up and down, seeing how he could barely stand, and scoffed, “What’s the matter, cat got your tongue?”

Li Hao slowly lifted his head, revealing swollen eyes.

Seeing Li Hao staring at him without speaking, the Middle-aged man snorted in annoyance, “What are you pretending for?”

“……”

Li Hao still said nothing…

The Middle-aged man seemed to lose interest in this failure, glaring at him one last time, “Just wait, you’ll speak eventually!”

He waved at Xing Yao, “Take him inside.” Then, with a frown, he added, “Don’t let him die.”