In the luxurious bedroom on the top floor of the City Lord's Mansion, which originally belonged to Chai Hu, the air was filled with a strong mixture of musk and sweat. The heavy velvet curtains were tightly drawn, allowing only a few dim rays of light to penetrate and illuminate the messy, disheveled bed.
Xu Boda lay naked on his back on the silk sheets, his corpulent body flushed, still panting heavily. His layers of belly rose and fell with each breath, like a fermenting mass of dough.
"Darling, you're amazing... much better than those useless men before~"
Su Qing curled up in his arms like a docile Persian cat, drawing circles on his chest with her fingers. Her once exquisite makeup was smudged, but it only added to a decadent charm. Her peach blossom eyes, which Lin Xuan once adored, now gazed affectionately at the greasy fat man before her, as if he were the only hero in the world.
"That Lin Xuan, he couldn't even afford a decent bag before, just played games all day, he was utterly useless." Su Qing complained coquettishly, her tone full of disdain and contempt. "Unlike you, Young Master Xu... oh no, now it should be Deputy City Lord Xu. You have both power and influence, now this is a real man."
Xu Boda was so flattered that he felt like he was floating. He reached out and squeezed Su Qing's butt hard, eliciting a feigned gasp from her.
"Hahahaha! Of course!" Xu Boda laughed wildly, the flesh on his face trembling. "I have a city and guns now, with hundreds of men under me! That poor Lin Xuan? Hmph, he's probably already turned into zombie feces!"
"If he were still alive and saw you begging for mercy under me like this, I wonder if he'd die of a cerebral hemorrhage from anger, hahahaha!"
"Oh, you're so naughty~ Why mention that dead man? It's bad luck." Su Qing's eyes were like silk, and she He leaned in and kissed Xu Boda on the lips., her tongue teasing to the extreme. "Now I only belong to you..."
These two scoundrels were unaware that a miniature pinhole camera was flashing a faint red light, clearly transmitting this embarrassing scene to the F University Command Center a dozen kilometers away. Lin Xuan, in front of the screen, was expressionless, but the chill in his eyes was more biting than the winter outside.
...
Meanwhile, in the City Lord's Mansion's council hall.
The atmosphere was far from the romantic one upstairs; instead, it was filled with a chilling solemnity.
Zhang Wei, codenamed Peregrine Falcon, was currently kneeling on the ground, his forehead covered in sweat, a dark gun barrel pressed against his temple.
Xu Zhen, sitting in the main seat, toyed with several high-definition photos. The photos showed scenes from the F University campus: piles of canned supplies, clean water sources, and students moving about on the spacious playground—they looked completely defenseless, with only a few pathetic fire axes and makeshift shields.
"F University... all survivors are students and teachers?" Xu Zhen narrowed his eyes, his gaze like a venomous snake slithering over Zhang Wei. "Supplies piled up like mountains, yet only this level of armament?"
"It's absolutely true, City Lord Xu!" Zhang Wei's voice trembled, but he tried to maintain an eager tone, as if seeking credit. "I secretly took these photos when I passed by during my escape. Those student brats don't know how to fight at all; they're sitting on a gold mine but begging for food! As long as you send troops over, those supplies, and those female university students... they're all yours!"
"Hmph."
Xu Zhen sneered, then suddenly erupted, kicking Zhang Wei hard in the chest, sending him sprawling to the ground.
"Do you think I'm an idiot?" Xu Zhen stepped forward, pressing the gun barrel firmly against Zhang Wei's forehead, his finger already on the trigger. "Lei the Tiger just died, and you're trying to use my own strategy against me? Luring the enemy deep? Trying to trick my men out to wipe them all out?"
"You've wronged me, City Lord!" Zhang Wei shouted hoarsely, ignoring the blood at the corner of his mouth, his eyes filled with the injustice of being misunderstood and the desire for wealth.
"I, Zhang Wei, am just a small-time opportunist looking to make a living! Lei the Tiger was stupid, but I can see that you are the one destined for great things! I want to follow you and enjoy prosperity! That place really is a goldmine! If you don't believe me, you can send a few scouts to check first. If there's a single lie, you can chop me up and feed me to the dogs right here in the base!"
Xu Zhen stared into Zhang Wei's eyes for a full half-minute. He was looking for flaws, for something beyond fear. But all he saw was greed—an extreme craving for power and survival, much like his own.
Moreover, the supplies in the photos were simply too tempting. In the apocalypse, food was life, and female university students were... ahem. If there really was only a group of defenseless students there...
Xu Zhen slowly withdrew his gun, the sinister expression on his face softening slightly, replaced by a cunning, calculating smile.
"Get up," Xu Zhen said lightly, adjusting his collar.
"I doubt you'd dare to lie to me. But you're right, caution is the parent of safety. I'll send people to scout. If the situation is as you say... you'll have the greatest merit, and from now on, you'll be the Quartermaster General of Hope City."
"Thank you, City Lord! Thank you for the opportunity!" Zhang Wei scrambled to his feet, looking utterly grateful.
Xu Zhen turned around, looking at the gray sky outside the window, the flame of greed in his heart completely ignited. Having just taken Hope City, now was the time to stabilize the people with supplies and expand his power. If he could devour F University, his position in F City would be unshakeable.
But he never expected that the hunter often appears in the form of the prey.
A gray mist enveloped the only road leading to F University. The four scouts sent by Xu Zhen were crouching, advancing quickly under the cover of abandoned vehicles. Their movements were sharp, their eyes keen. However, they didn't know that their every move shone like a torch in the dark on Black Watch's thermal imaging devices.
When they stepped into the three-kilometer Warning line (alert line) perimeter of F University, they were instantly subdued by Black Watch Soldiers who burst from the shadows, without even having time to scream. It was a speed and strength that no ordinary human could possess; just a chokehold and a knee strike completely incapacitated these so-called veterans.
In the underground interrogation room, the stark white light made it hard to keep one's eyes open.
"Go to hell, I won't tell you anything!"
"Ah!! Please... kill me! Kill me!"
They let out heart-wrenching wails. The Black Watch interrogators didn't use traditional flogging; instead, they directly inserted slender biological probes into their nerve ganglia, constantly amplifying their pain perception with weak bio-currents. In front of Black Watch, there were no tough guys, only broken chunks of flesh.
In less than ten minutes, they slumped on the electric chairs like mud.
Then, like spilling beans from a bamboo tube, they spilled everything: Xu Zhen's attack plan, Hope City's troop deployment, and even the detail that Xu Boda snored in his sleep.
"Very good." Lin Xuan watched all this indifferently through the one-way glass. "Equip them with 'gifts' and send them back."
Several Black Watch Soldiers roughly implanted miniature remote-controlled bombs under the skin of these scouts' necks and sewed high-sensitivity listening devices into the inside of their collars.
"Listen, your lives are now in our hands," the interrogator's cold voice rang in their ears. "Just press this button, and your heads will explode like rotten watermelons. Go back and tell Xu Zhen that F University is a defenseless piece of fatty meat. If you dare to show the slightest flaw... understand?"
The scouts felt the foreign objects in their necks in terror, their faces pale, nodding desperately, their eyes filled with extreme fear of death.
...
Two hours later, at the Hope City Lord's Mansion.
Xu Boda was swaggering on the sofa, holding a glass of red wine, while Su Qing clung to him like a burr. Xu Zhen sat nearby, anxiously awaiting news.
"City Lord! Young Master Xu! We're back!"
The lead scout, "Big Liu," stumbled into the hall. His face was covered in sweat, and his expression showed a kind of "excitement" born from excessive tension.
Xu Zhen abruptly stood up: "How is it? What's the situation over there?"
Big Liu swallowed, forcibly suppressing the throbbing fear in his neck, and spoke according to the script given to him by Black Watch: "City Lord... we're rich! We're really rich! We snuck up to the school wall and saw that it's full of students in uniforms. Supplies are piled up at the cafeteria entrance, without even a decent barbed wire fence! Their most powerful weapons are a few homemade crossbows. We just need one charge, and that place will be our backyard!"
Xu Boda's eyes lit up at the words "students" and "supplies." He slapped his thigh: "I knew it! Uncle, let's send troops quickly! If we're late and other forces target it, it'll be trouble!"
Su Qing fanned the flames from the side: "Exactly! When the time comes, capture those students and make them work in the city. You'll also have more people to order around~"
Although Xu Zhen was cunning and strategic, seeing Big Liu's "extremely excited" demeanor, coupled with his intense craving for supplies, he finally let down his last shred of guard. Little did he know that Big Liu was, at this very moment, relaying his every move to Lin Xuan in real-time through a listening device.
"Good!" Xu Zhen slammed the table, his eyes glinting fiercely. "My command! All troops assemble! Besides the necessary guards, everyone take your guns and cargo trucks. After today, F University will be ours!"
"Yes! City Lord is wise!"
"Hahahahahahaha...!"
A burst of arrogant laughter filled the hall. Meanwhile, on the other end of the monitoring screen, Lin Xuan looked at Xu Boda's face, twisted by greed, and a cruel smirk played on his lips.
"Since you're so eager to die, I'll be generous and prepare the grandest funeral for you."
Inside the F University Command Center, the large screen rendered the battle situation within a radius of dozens of kilometers with exquisite detail. Lin Xuan leaned his hands on the command console, his cold gaze fixed on the snake-like convoy. Behind him, Lin Jianqing approached with her long, straight legs encased in black stockings, placing a sealed, top-secret document on the table.
"Commander, the black box has been successfully decrypted. The decryption file has been placed on your desk," Lin Jianqing's voice was clear and efficient.
"Alright, I know." Lin Xuan didn't even turn his head, his tone as calm as if he were handling a trivial matter. At this moment, he wanted to personally witness the uncle and nephew wailing in the flames.
Six kilometers outside the Blue Zone controlled by Black Watch, "Zhang Wei," who had been hidden in the convoy, made his move. His movements were astonishingly fast; the moment the convoy entered an open area, he rolled into the roadside ruins. A few seconds later, he appeared on top of a clock tower with an excellent vantage point, coldly overlooking the unsuspecting victims below.
He pressed his earbud, the fawning "Zhang Wei" having vanished, replaced by the absolute calm of a Black Watch Shadow Agent: "Base, requesting artillery support. Authorization code 'Peregrine Falcon,' target coordinates locked, deploy firepower at my 12 o'clock direction, fire all ammunition! Repeat, saturation strike!"
With that, Peregrine Falcon leaped and disappeared into the shadows of the buildings.
At the artillery positions behind F University, more than ten 120mm mortars had already raised their menacing barrels. The Commander sharply waved the flag: "Received, bombardment in progress! Fire!"
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The dull roar of the cannons shattered the silence of the apocalypse, followed by the screech of shells tearing through the air.
"Boom! Boom boom boom! Rumble—!"
The first volley precisely covered the middle section of the convoy. A pickup truck loaded with ammunition instantly exploded into a massive fireball, metal fragments flying like knives in all directions, slicing the surrounding wailing soldiers into minced meat.
"Holy hell! What's happening! Where did the explosion come from?!"
"Counterattack! Quick, counterattack! Where's the enemy?!"
The convoy was in chaos, soldiers frantically jumping out of their vehicles to find cover, only to discover that besides crumbling walls, there was no sign of the enemy anywhere. This dimension-reducing strike from beyond visual range completely shattered their psychological defenses.
Xu Zhen sat in the bulletproof car, the violent shaking causing him to hit his head against the window. He looked at the hellish scene outside, and his dimwitted brain finally functioned beyond its usual capacity under the threat of death.
"Damn it! These aren't students... this is a regular armed force, a military stronghold!" Xu Zhen roared in despair, cold sweat instantly soaking his back. He finally realized what kind of trap he had fallen into; the so-called "Zhang Wei" was nothing but bait!
He frantically grabbed the walkie-talkie: "Zhang Wei! Where's Zhang Wei?! Tell him to get out here and explain himself!"
The walkie-talkie crackled with static and the crying shouts of his subordinates: "We don't know, Brother Xu! Zhang Wei disappeared before the explosion! He... he vanished!"
"Damn! You useless..."
"Boom—!!!"
Before he could finish, a shell directly hit the front hood of Xu Zhen's vehicle. The massive shockwave flipped the entire car, sending it rolling several times before it crashed heavily onto the road embankment. Xu Zhen inside felt the world spin, warm liquid flowing down his forehead into his eyes, his vision gradually blurring, finally passing out completely amidst the roaring explosions.
In a car behind, Xu Boda and Su Qing were cowering in terror beneath the seats.
"Second Uncle! Help!" Xu Boda was so scared he wet his pants, and a foul stench filled the confined car.
Su Qing no longer had any trace of her former charm; her exquisite face was twisted like a screaming ghost.
In front of the screen, Lin Xuan watched the Ugly behavior (ugly display) of these insignificant clowns and slowly stood up.
"Jianqing, notify them. code d can enter the field now." Lin Xuan's voice was chillingly cold.