When Shen Feng returned to the shore, he was laden with a bounty of fish. Such a large catch could sustain the base for three months. With salt available by the sea, making salted fish was also an option, further extending its shelf life.
Shen Feng disliked being manipulated, but to smoothly reclaim the city, he needed Wang Jiaoe's cooperation. At the very least, he couldn't let her continue to cause trouble, otherwise, the plan to retake the large city within a week would likely be disrupted.
Shen Feng quickly returned to the camp outside the city, only to find many refugees gathered around it. They were emaciated, especially the children, whose bodies were alarmingly thin. Their heads were disproportionately large compared to their small frames, and their eyes were filled with a vacant, numb expression.
Yue Hengyi was directing a group of people in cooking porridge to feed the refugees. It was already afternoon, and the weather was scorching hot, around thirty-five degrees Celsius. Such temperatures could easily cause heatstroke, yet refugees continued to arrive in droves, willing to risk heatstroke to reach this place.
After receiving their porridge, the refugees repeatedly bowed to Yue Hengyi. As they drank the thin gruel, tears of gratitude streamed down their faces.
Shen Feng walked up to Yue Hengyi and asked, "How is it going?"
Yue Hengyi, full of pride, gestured to the vast encampment around them and said, "Brother Feng, I haven't let the camp fall into chaos. Under my command, over two thousand refugees are orderly, all awaiting aid. For me, this is the reward for doing good deeds. These people are all grateful to me. It's also thanks to the food Wang Jiaoe sent, otherwise, I truly wouldn't have the strength to help them!"
Shen Feng slapped the back of Yue Hengyi's head and asked impatiently, "Was I asking you about that? I asked you about the battle situation, how many zombies did you eliminate today?"
Yue Hengyi finally realized that Shen Feng wasn't inquiring about the camp's condition but about the situation in the distant city.
Yue Hengyi quickly replied, "No problem, Brother Feng. After suffering losses yesterday, Hundred Year Old Orchid dares not venture deep into the city. They are specifically attacking areas with weaker zombie hordes. Over the entire day, they've eliminated over a hundred thousand zombies!"
"No, the speed is too slow. This Hundred Year Old Orchid is growing too slowly!" Shen Feng couldn't help but frown.
"Brother Feng, you're too impatient. This isn't slow! Hundred Year Old Orchid has already grown its third pair of leaves. Tomorrow, it will likely eliminate two hundred thousand zombies, and from then on, it will eliminate more each day!" Yue Hengyi quickly explained. He felt Shen Feng's demands were too high; eliminating a hundred thousand zombies in such a short time was already formidable. Even ability users might not be able to achieve this.
Shen Feng patted Yue Hengyi's shoulder and said earnestly, "Little Yue, achieving victory within a week is not an easy task, especially since we have this tradition! Back in the days of the 38th parallel, our ancestors used the week-long offensive to defeat the coalition forces of other nations. Now, we cannot disgrace our ancestors. Within a week, we must reclaim the city!"
Yue Hengyi nodded, then pointed to the many refugees surrounding the camp. These refugees had survived thus far primarily by eating wild vegetables. Farming was impossible, the wilderness too dangerous, and they couldn't enter the city. To have endured two years of hardship and still be alive was truly remarkable.
"What about these people? Just as Wang Jiaoe said, as soon as they heard we were reclaiming the city, they came to join us. We can't just leave them to die, can we? We are all humans!" Yue Hengyi couldn't abandon these refugees.
Shen Feng said helplessly, "Heh, you really think Wang Jiaoe is a good person? These refugees were caused by her. I'll have her deal with them herself. The most important thing for us is to reclaim the city and create a major sensation!"
As they were talking, Shen Feng noticed two photographers walking around the camp with cameras, their lenses following the refugees.
"What are you two doing? Did I ask you to film the refugees? I told you to film the process of us reclaiming the city, and you go and film refugees. Do you have nothing better to do?" Shen Feng walked up to the two photographers and kicked each of them. He immediately sent them sprawling, though he did control his strength to avoid injuring them.
The photographers quickly explained, "Mr. Shen, we are promoting humanitarianism by filming the most brutal scenes of the apocalypse. Perhaps we can even win a Pulitzer Prize in the future! That is the highest honor for a journalist!"
"Don't give me that! Pulitzer Prize, huh? Always playing the saintly mother role, aren't you tired? Find a little boy, throw him on the beach to take a picture, then place a dying child in the wilderness waiting for vultures, or put a dirty child in ruins to capture the tragedy of war. Isn't your approach too monotonous? If you truly want to save people, then get to work honestly!" Shen Feng berated them.
Filming the video of reclaiming the city was the most important task, yet these two scoundrels were filming the touching aspects of humanity. This had angered Shen Feng. They dared to be so presumptuous when they should be focused on the main task; not beating them until they couldn't take care of themselves was already showing restraint due to their good health!
The two photographers lowered their heads, not daring to answer Shen Feng. They also didn't want to offend this powerful ability user.
However, the two photographers also felt wronged. Clearly, others could film human tragedies and receive honors and awards, ultimately gaining fame and fortune. Why couldn't they?
"Mr. Shen, we believe that by capturing the expressions and demeanor of people in desperate situations, the true nature of humanity will be revealed in despair. Then, many, many people will pay attention. Don't you want a video with high click-through rates? This video can meet your requirements!" The photographers hastily defended their actions, essentially believing their work was correct.
Regarding their peculiar confidence, Shen Feng said coldly, "Just shut up! Don't you understand the principle of scarcity?"
Next, Shen Feng continued to point at their noses and said, "If this were a peaceful era, filming some tragic scenes would indeed allow those well-fed saintly mothers to express their opinions and satisfy their hypocritical kindness. But now, the entire world is in a similar state of misery. If you film this, who will watch? Who would want to watch something they can see around them? You don't even understand supply and demand, how can you be part of society?"
After speaking, Shen Feng pointed towards the distant city. The two photographers could only obediently head towards the city, preparing to film the battle between mutated plants and zombies.
Shen Feng's idea was simple. Why were many news awards given to photographers who filmed human tragedies in the past peaceful years? That was because the world was at peace. Even though regions like the Middle East were constantly at war, from a global perspective, there were more peaceful places. People living in peaceful societies couldn't imagine the lives of people in war-torn areas, nor did they know what famine was.
Thus, when people living in safe and happy environments first saw unimaginable scenes, the impact on their hearts was immeasurable. The more people were impacted, the more shocking the news appeared.
Unfortunately, the current situation was similar worldwide. The Northern Hemisphere might be slightly better, but not by much. People had seen too much tragedy and had become numb. Who would still want to watch famine and war?
Upon entering the city, Shen Feng first saw densely packed zombies lying on the ground. The blood within these zombies had been completely drained. Deeper within the city, crowds of people could be seen, and the battle between zombies and mutated plants was still ongoing.
"Little Yue, you take the photographers to continue filming. I'll go to the city center to take a look. If I can find a Corpse King, the subsequent battle will be much simpler," Shen Feng said to Yue Hengyi.
After speaking, Shen Feng leaped onto a rooftop and advanced continuously. On the rooftops, except for speed-type zombies, no other zombies could reach them. From a high vantage point, he could clearly see the zombies' movements.
Shen Feng first arrived at the city center, which was where the most zombies were concentrated. The entire street was filled with zombies. Anyone seeing this would likely suffer from trypophobia.
The city center had at least hundreds of thousands of zombies. The crowds were dense. Finding a Corpse King among such a large number of zombies was undoubtedly difficult. Shen Feng could only search for mutated zombies within the zombie horde. Generally, Corpse Kings kept mutated zombies as bodyguards by their side. Corpse Kings had innate control over normal zombies and mutated zombies, and mutated zombies could not disobey the Corpse King's orders.
Shen Feng stood on a rooftop, observing below. He indeed spotted quite a few mutated zombies, but the number of mutated zombies was still too small. Most of the mutated zombies had disappeared, likely having gone into hiding.
"Could the Corpse King be hiding in the sewers again? If that's the case, then it's impossible to find!" Shen Feng muttered to himself on the rooftop.
Looking down from the rooftop, he couldn't see many mutated zombies. The zombies maintained a distance in the streets. Weak zombies could no longer stand, and these weaker zombies became food for the stronger ones around them.
Even if zombies could enter a dormant state, energy consumption was a real thing. Even in dormancy, there was a minimum level of energy consumption. From this perspective, zombies that did not engage in production would eventually disappear.
However, at this moment, Shen Feng suddenly noticed something amiss. Although he couldn't find the Corpse King's location, the zombies in the streets were constantly devouring each other. The zombies being eaten were the weak ones, and their numbers were increasing. If this trend continued, the scale of the zombie horde would significantly decrease.
"Could it be that the Corpse King is deliberately doing this, letting the zombies feast first before a final desperate struggle?" Shen Feng pondered in his mind.
Shen Feng was quite familiar with the actions of zombies before launching a general offensive. Back in Jiangyang, the Corpse King had controlled the zombies to devour each other to maintain sufficient combat effectiveness.
Shen Feng searched the city center for an hour but couldn't find any trace of the Corpse King, so he had to return in disappointment.
Yue Hengyi, along with the two photographers, was filming the battle of Hundred Year Old Orchid killing zombies on the outskirts of the city. When people first witnessed the combat style of Hundred Year Old Orchid, they were all shocked. Hundreds of vines waved in the air, accurately grabbing zombies. Weak zombies were strangled to death the moment they were caught by the vines, while stronger zombies, once captured, would also have their roots burrow into their bodies, instantly draining their blood.
The zombies whose blood had been drained lay on the ground with pale faces, their skin devoid of any color.
Yue Hengyi looked at the zombie corpses on the ground and said dejectedly, "It's a pity these zombie corpses cannot be thrown into the sea. Ultimately, these killed zombies will become food for the remaining zombie horde. If only Hundred Year Old Orchid's absorption capability were stronger."
For Hundred Year Old Orchid, the easiest thing to absorb from its prey was blood. Blood contained sufficient moisture, and Hundred Year Old Orchid, being a plant, would die without water. Therefore, upon capturing its prey, Hundred Year Old Orchid would first drain the zombie's blood. As for the other parts of the zombie, it could not continue to absorb them.
What Yue Hengyi worried about most was the outbreak of plague. The weather was hot now, and dead zombies began to attract flies within ten minutes. The stench was also appearing. With so many corpses gathered in the city, once a plague broke out, it would be a disaster. There were no antibiotics available in Australia at this time.