"You just need to know we are from military headquarters, nothing else!" a middle-aged voice, deep and powerful, came from the other end of the phone.
Shen Feng immediately asked, "What should I call you? I need to know your name."
The middle-aged man was silent for a moment, then said, "My codename is 'Eagle.' You can call me by my codename. I'm calling you because we've detected you are establishing a base and want to inquire about your next steps. Also, we hope to establish long-term contact."
Shen Feng quickly replied, "Our next step is to attack Luzhou and clear out all the zombies. Long-term contact will naturally be fine, but we need support, a lot of support. Otherwise, it's impossible to retake Luzhou."
Eagle then replied, "You are a civilian force. The support we can provide is very limited. What kind of support do you need?"
"I need ten thousand guns and one million bullets. Give me these weapons, and I guarantee we'll take Luzhou!" Shen Feng recalled what Zhou Xiaoxiao had said during the meeting last night: with ten thousand guns, even ten times the number of zombies would be no problem.
However, Eagle flatly refused the request, saying directly, "I'm sorry, we cannot provide you with that much support. Guns are very scarce right now, and the whole country is short of them. We cannot fulfill the support you need."
Shen Feng's eyes darted, and thinking of his current predicament, he said, "If there's no support, I'll have to retreat with my fifteen thousand men. We plan to collect boats and food and head downstream to seek refuge in the Three Gorges."
Upon hearing Shen Feng say this, Eagle continued, "According to regulations, you should go to the provincial capital of this province to request shelter. If you go to the Three Gorges, you will burden the local people, and it's likely that the locals won't be able to afford your living expenses."
Shen Feng had indeed decided to go to the Three Gorges, but without support, it was truly difficult to retake the city. Therefore, he had to resort to being unreasonable. Shen Feng continued, "It's different. If I go to Rongcheng, I'll need time to collect gasoline and vehicles, and there might be dangers on the road. Going to the Three Gorges is different. We can reach it in a day by sailing downstream. It makes more sense to go downstream."
"As I said, the locals cannot afford so many of you. Even if you go, you will only be refugees, leaving your homeland behind. Are you willing to become outsiders in the eyes of others?" Eagle on the other end of the phone continued.
Shen Feng smiled and said, "Isn't going to Rongcheng also leaving our homeland behind? Aren't we outsiders then? If we can get support and retake Luzhou, I certainly won't cause trouble in E Province. But the problem is that I'm not getting any support here!"
Eagle understood Shen Feng's intention at this point. This kid wasn't planning to migrate at all; he clearly wanted support, just using migration as a pretense.
"Please wait a moment. I will report to my superiors. Someone will register your civilian organization. Please register your organization first. Once registered, we will find a way to establish contact with you," Eagle said.
Before Shen Feng could reply, a sweet female voice came from the other end of the phone, "Hello Shen Feng, I need to register your group. Please state your name, group size, group name, location, and future outlook."
Hearing these registration requirements, Shen Feng suddenly had an illusion: was he registering a guild in a game? Then, Shen Feng explained his situation, and the woman on the other end quickly registered the self-help association he founded, with Shen Feng himself as the leader, and the rest filled in casually.
Suddenly, Shen Feng thought of something important and quickly asked, "By the way, I want to ask, are there any similar civilian organizations to me? Why the registration?"
Shen Feng had also realized by this time that since the military wanted to register his information, it meant that civilian organizations had already appeared, which was why they were registering his group according to procedure. This suggested that in other cities, self-organized civilian forces had likely already emerged.
"I'm sorry, your authorization is insufficient to answer," the other end of the phone refused to answer Shen Feng's question.
However, the refusal to answer was itself an answer, because it meant Shen Feng's guess was correct. Other civilian organizations did exist, they just wouldn't tell Shen Feng. With this answer, Shen Feng began to speculate. It seemed that in extraordinary times, civilian organizations like his were indeed allowed to exist.
Shen Feng continued to ask questions, but all the answers he received were "insufficient authorization," and he didn't get any more information.
Finally, after half an hour, Shen Feng heard Eagle's voice again. He continued, "I have requested my superiors to investigate the urban area of Luzhou. A large number of zombies in the city center are under control, and it's possible that a Corpse King exists. Therefore, the superiors have decided to provide you with missile support, but the prerequisite is that you report the location of the Corpse King. Once the location of the Corpse King is known, we will carry out precision strikes!"
Upon hearing this answer, Shen Feng was immediately relieved. With missile support, wouldn't it be a direct decapitation strike? However, Shen Feng then became confused, "What is a Corpse King?"
Eagle explained, "A Corpse King is a special existence among zombies. It does not have combat power, but a Corpse King can control the actions of zombies, hence the name Corpse King. Once a Corpse King is discovered, we will immediately strike. Do you need missile support?"
Shen Feng quickly replied, "Yes, yes! I can provide you with the Corpse King's location immediately. When can you provide support?"
Shen Feng had also realized by now that the so-called Corpse King was nothing more than the command-type zombies he had mentioned. He hadn't expected that the Corpse King had already been targeted by headquarters and needed to be eliminated with missiles.
"It will take at least five days. There's no need to rush. Next, we will air-drop a radio transmitter to your base. From now on, we will communicate via radio. Please receive it accurately," Eagle said from the other end of the phone.
Shen Feng marveled at the military's generosity in his heart. To establish stable contact, they were directly air-dropping a radio transmitter. But a problem arose: "When will the airdrop be? Will there be an instruction manual in the airdrop? Can I contact you anytime in the future?"
Eagle replied concisely, "The airdrop will be this evening. You'll understand the rest when the time comes!"
After saying these words, the call was hung up. It seemed the military had finished what they wanted to say to Shen Feng. And Shen Feng couldn't say he gained nothing. At least he could get missile support and an air-dropped radio. His base wasn't lacking electricity, and with a radio, wouldn't he be able to get information from the outside world anytime?
After ending the call, Shen Feng immediately went to his senior sister's place and saw her chatting happily with his mother, seemingly discussing family matters. The atmosphere was very harmonious, and it seemed they would get along well in the future.
When Shen Feng arrived, Chang Jianyi quickly handed him the phone. Then Shen Feng heard his mother's instructions: "Shen Feng, since you already have a wife, you need to be more steady in your actions from now on. You can't just do whatever you think of. Also, be careful in future battles. Your wife has already told me that you are establishing a base. I only hope for your safety, so you must be careful."
Shen Feng quickly replied, "Okay, I understand, Mom. You two also take care of yourselves. Please convey my regards to Dad and my sister, and tell them to be safe too."
Chang Jianyi also said sweetly, "Mom, goodbye. We're going back now."
At this moment, Chang Jianyi had already changed her address, which proved that Shen Feng's family had completely accepted her. Chang Jianyi was very happy.
The call finally ended, and the group prepared to return to the base. Shen Feng shared his conversation with the military. On the way back to the base, Chang Jianyi kept analyzing the situation: "The other party refers to command-type zombies as Corpse Kings, which proves they are also researching zombies, and their research is deep. If that's the case, the military should also have evolved individuals, but we don't know the extent of their research yet."
Shen Feng listened to this analysis and considered it carefully, then said, "Perhaps many cities around us already have civilian organizations, but we don't know."
As they discussed, they returned to the base. Upon returning, Yang Ye once again directed the dam to cut off power to the signal tower. Since they had already contacted the higher-ups, there was no need for further communication. The people in the base were all overjoyed to hear that they had received support.
Ren Jing and a group of his subordinates were staying in a house near the dam. They all knew the self-help association's plan, which was to use the dam to eliminate zombies. For example, yesterday, they had personally witnessed Chang Jianyi commanding everyone to flood and kill forty thousand zombies, clearing out the wandering zombies in the surrounding streets, and most of the nearby residents had been rescued.
For safety reasons, Ren Jing did not want to wander around in the zombie-infested city, so he hid near the dam, looking for an opportunity to sneak into the self-help association. However, to successfully sneak in, they would have to disfigure themselves so that others couldn't recognize their appearance. Currently, no one could bring themselves to do it. If everyone became ugly, it would be too unbearable.
Especially Zhu Yan, when she heard that she had to disfigure herself to enter the base, she immediately shook her head. Her greatest asset was her delicate face and good figure. If she were disfigured now, what would she rely on to climb up in the future? Who would like an ugly person?
Ren Jing looked at the people in the base who were starting fires to cook. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. If he hadn't betrayed the self-help association, he could also be living carefree in the base now, without fear of being surrounded by zombies at any moment. Although he had already evolved twice, he still found it difficult to cope with hordes of zombies. To survive, he could only stick together!
Thinking of this, Ren Jing slapped Zhu Yan across the face and cursed, "You damn woman, it's all because of you that I've ended up in this situation."
Zhu Yan couldn't help but retort, "The decision was yours, why are you blaming me now? If you have the guts, kill me!"
"Do you think I dare not?" Ren Jing immediately picked up a knife from the ground, wishing he could split the woman in front of him.
As a result, two or three evolved individuals around Ren Jing quickly advised, "Don't do it, don't do it. We're all on the same side, don't ruin our harmony."
Ren Jing glanced coldly at the people around him and said with a cold smile, "Stop pretending to be peacemakers. I know why you're protecting her. I've seen it these days. You often sneak into her room, aren't you just doing it for a woman? Do you think I don't know? Do you think I'm blind and deaf?"
These people all smiled awkwardly and said nothing. The rest of the people, upon hearing this, all turned their gaze to Zhu Yan. Since others could play, could they also play? It had to be said that under such tense circumstances, everyone needed to vent their stress.
It was already dusk. Everyone prepared to hide in the depths of the houses to start fires as usual. But at this moment, a strange sound appeared. Everyone cautiously observed from the window and saw a helicopter approaching from a distance, finally stopping above the base.
Upon seeing this, Ren Jing's eyes almost popped out. He never expected a helicopter to appear here. Could it be that the army was coming to rescue them? If that were the case, it would be great. He could go and join the army!
The others were also very surprised. With a helicopter, it meant they could leave by helicopter, and this most likely indicated that the army was coming!
However, at this moment, the helicopter air-dropped a large box from above, with a parachute attached to slow its descent. After dropping the box, the helicopter left without any delay. Many people witnessed this scene, and the base erupted in cheers. An airdrop meant that contact had been established with the outside world.