The heavy rain caused severe losses for many groups struggling in the apocalypse.
For the Salvation Army, the depletion of their strength was even greater.
After the heavy rain, Li Yu wanted to set off as soon as possible to resolve the hidden danger of the Salvation Army.
For him, since they had already become enemies, there was no turning back; he had to find a way to eliminate them. This was a lesson he learned in the years before his rebirth.
On the third day after the heavy rain ended, Li Yu prepared to depart.
During these past few days, Li Yu also discussed with his Second Uncle and others. There was only one goal for this outing: to destroy the Salvation Army.
The base’s population had reached nearly 70 people. Some internal plans also needed to be completed, including the improvement of the perimeter wall.
Li Yu had actually considered expanding the base, but manpower was a significant issue. For now, they would focus on repairing the wall.
For this trip, Li Yu still brought Li Hang, Li Tie, Li Gang, Da Pao, Yang Tianlong, Lai Dongsheng, and Xiao Lata, but he also added some new people, including worker Ding Jiu, worker Wang Cheng, worker Xie Weishan, Song Min, and two of her former employees, Xiao Han.
A group of 15 people, divided into three vehicles, set off one morning.
Some people remained at the base, including Second Uncle, Third Uncle, Fourth Uncle, and First Uncle. Even though Li Yu took 15 people, over 50 people still remained at the base.
Thus, Li Yu felt relatively at ease heading to N City.
According to Li Yu’s plan, if there were no accidents on the way, they would reach the Salvation Army’s location in about an hour or so.
Swift victory.
Facing the morning sun, three vehicles roared past on the National Highway.
In June, the temperature was unusually hot. It was only morning, but the temperature had already exceeded 35 degrees Celsius. Everyone in the vehicles wore protective gear, and under this gear, they felt faintly stuffy and sweaty.
Li Yu immediately turned on the air conditioning in the car. Opening the windows was not wise; they might encounter occasional zombies along the way, and it would be troublesome if one latched on.
Therefore, caution was best.
Inside the car,
“Brother, this damn weather is too hot,” Li Hang complained from the back seat, sweat dripping from his forehead.
Li Yu lowered the car’s air conditioning a few more degrees and adjusted the position of the air vent.
“This is just the beginning; it might get even hotter later,” Li Yu calmly replied.
“No way,” Li Hang wailed.
Inside the car, as the air conditioning turned on, cool breezes blew out, providing some relief to everyone’s stuffy bodies.
Li Yu looked out the car window. The scenery outside flashed by like a revolving lantern.
All he saw was greenery, but Li Yu knew clearly that this greenery wouldn’t last long.
Under the continuous high temperatures and drought that would follow, many plants would wither and die. The reason Li Yu chose to build the base there was because there was a mountain pond between two mountains.
Originally, the water level of that mountain pond was always between one-third and one-half, until the heavy rain a few days ago filled it up. The total area was nearly 10 mu.
This mountain pond was originally built quite deep, with the deepest part being over 20 meters, giving it an extraordinary water storage capacity.
This water would not only be used for irrigating the late rice crops in the future but also for consumption if the groundwater ran out.
On both sides of the road, trees were lush and green. The heavy rain a while ago had made these plants grow much larger, and the roadside trees were untrimmed. Drooping branches and leaves occasionally brushed against the cars.
Some branches would scratch the car paint, but no one cared about the appearance of cars anymore; what mattered more was whether the car was durable and powerful.
Along the way, Li Yu used his iPad for navigation. He had already downloaded offline maps of the entire country before the apocalypse. He could clearly see every road on the map.
He could also see the location of the Salvation Army’s factory on the map.
It was precisely because of this that Li Yu, when he dealt with Mao Ge and others earlier, killed them without hesitation once he learned the location of their headquarters.
They could find the location themselves!
Xiao Lata in the car had been learning to use a gun for some time. As Da Pao said, she was exceptionally gifted. Her accuracy with a gun was now on par with Li Hang’s.
It should be noted that Li Hang had been using the few guns he obtained when the apocalypse first broke out last year.
The rest, like Song Min, had also undergone urgent training during their days at the base. Ding Jiu and a few others, after going out with Li Yu several times, gained permission to use firearms and were now proficient with them.
The vehicles sped along, heading towards N City.
Li Yu and his group had basically never been in this direction since the apocalypse. However, looking at the map, they could generally confirm the direction.
Additionally, Uncle Lai, having followed his father delivering goods everywhere, was quite familiar with the surrounding counties and cities.
Li Yu was deep in thought when suddenly, the lead vehicle abruptly stopped.
They had a total of three vehicles: one armored vehicle and two SUVs.
They were divided into three small teams, each with a walkie-talkie for constant communication.
Li Yu, Li Hang, Xiao Lata, Da Pao, Yang Tianlong formed one group.
Li Tie, Lai Dongsheng, Ding Jiu, and others formed another group.
Li Gang, Song Min, and others formed the third group.
His younger cousins, Li Tie and Li Gang, had been highly valued by Li Yu since their return from the military. These two also lived up to Li Yu’s expectations, shouldering responsibilities at many critical moments.
Li Yu’s car was at the very back. The lead car, driven by Li Tie and Uncle Lai, suddenly stopped. Li Yu was about to inquire.
He then heard Li Tie’s voice over the walkie-talkie: “Brother, there are many large trees fallen ahead, about 30 meters away. We’ve stopped. What should we do?”
Upon hearing this, Li Yu looked left and right at the sides of the National Highway. He didn’t find anything unusual.
So he had Li Hang drive the car to the side, pulling up alongside Li Tie’s car.
Through the windshield, Li Yu clearly saw several tall roadside trees ahead, seemingly ravaged by the strong winds a few days prior. One of the trees was particularly striking.
Its top had been struck by lightning and was gone, leaving a charred black mess below. The middle part was directly bent and had fallen onto the National Highway.
He looked at the trees; they didn’t appear to be deliberately damaged. So Li Yu got out of the car, then had Lai Dongsheng and Da Pao get out as well.
The three went forward to inspect, while the others observed from their positions.
Li Yu walked to the fallen trees and saw that they had clearly been blown down by the wind, which made him feel relieved.
However, these large trees, the thickest of which was nearly 60 centimeters in diameter, certainly couldn’t be moved by one person alone.
So he had Yang Tianlong and the workers get out as well, specifically instructing Li Tie and Li Hang to observe the surroundings from their positions on both sides of the National Highway. If there was any unusual movement, everyone would have time to react.
With everyone’s effort, it wasn’t long before the large trees were finally moved to the side of the National Highway.
In just that short time, moving a few large trees made everyone break a sweat.
Everyone walked back towards the cars. Da Pao wiped the sweat from his forehead and said to Li Yu, “Yu Ge, this damn weather, it’s only a little past 8, why is the sun so strong? It’s too hot.”
Li Yu looked up at the sun in the sky. He didn’t know if it was his imagination, but he felt the sun looked a bit larger than usual.
“Let’s go quickly. Let’s get there as soon as possible,” Li Yu said.
