You were supposed to hoard supplies, why the heck did you hoard zombies!

Time quickly advanced to the next day.

The conference room was already filled with managers and supervisors from various departments of the company, among them were a few new faces who had been promoted in the past few months.

Even Gao Feng and Peng Yue from the distant Jiangbei Base had rushed back under Zhang Ye's orders.

But their seats were toward the back.

Right next to the door of the meeting room.

The heavy atmosphere in the air was like the frost of winter days.

When everyone had taken their seats, Zhang Ye's gaze immediately turned to Ding Zhixiong, who seemed rather tense standing beside him.

"Team leader Ding."

"Tell everyone about what you discovered in the Jiangnan District yesterday, and try not to leave out any details."

"Yes!"

"Yesterday, after I received the task from Minister Xu..."

Ding Zhixiong recounted in detail everything that happened on the way, especially the military traces spotted on the highway, describing them with utmost precision.

He even clarified the exact number of soldiers' bodies present at the scene.

At the end of his speech, he specifically presented the standard-issue military pistol.

It bore a unique serial number.

The pistol was quickly passed from hand to hand under Zhang Ye's gesture, finally stopping with Xu Lin.

His eyes, as still as stagnant water, were fixed on that string of numbers.

Without a doubt, it was indeed military issue.

Were the army still around?

A wave of long-lost tumult rose in Xu Lin's heart, even feeling an impulse to immediately dispatch someone to search for military survivors in the Jiangnan District.

But the moment he looked up, he saw Zhang Ye's gaze, which inexplicably turned his way.

As ever, it was calm, but with a hint of questioning.

"What do you think?"

"Is this gun real?"

Zhang Ye asked softly.

Before Xu Lin could respond, someone already exclaimed, "This is indeed the pistol used by the Shenzhou Army in recent years, but how could they appear on the highway?"

This question voiced the concerns of many present.

Instantly, many pairs of eyes turned towards Ding Zhixiong, who still maintained an upright and proud posture.

Clearly, they expected to get more intelligence from the individual who had discovered the accident scene.

Including what exactly had happened to the army.

And what the outcome was.

Seeing this, Zhang Ye didn't hesitate at all and directly voiced his and Ai Bing's conjecture. Find your next read at My Virtual Library Empire

"From the traces at the scene."

"It's very likely that some of them were fortunate enough to survive and might be hiding somewhere in the Jiangnan District or a nearby suburban area."

This conclusion immediately startled many and led to an uproar of discussion.

After all, that referred to the military, representing the armed force of the Shenzhou government.

But what about them?

Though they were nominally a company,

in reality, they had already become warlords controlling vast safe zones.

Such actions would not be tolerated by the government in any period of Shenzhou's history and would be considered a major criminal offense.

If the military forces were indeed found, who knew if they would adjudicate them in the government's name?

What then should they do?

To resist or not to resist?

If they chose to resist, that would mean an open confrontation with the government.

Yet now, with the appearance of military traces, it could very well mean that the government had not been completely annihilated in this disaster but might just be lying low somewhere.

And the outcome of confrontation was needless to say.

If we lose, the whole family dies.

If we win...

Is that even possible?

In the end, it's the Shen Zhou government we're talking about.

The Shen Zhou government, ruling this country for over five hundred years, commands an army exceeding five million. It's not just any corporation; even the United States across the ocean wouldn't necessarily be able to flex its muscles against them.

So, it wasn't long before someone voiced their opinion.

"We absolutely can't seek out these army survivors."

"Otherwise, once we're discovered..."

"What would happen?"

The person hadn't finished speaking when someone next to them interrupted.

The speaker was Zhou Hongbing.

Head of the machinery factory.

All the company's weapons and equipment are now produced in the workshop he manages, where hundreds of zombie workers tirelessly forge casings with their hands.

He looked disdainfully at Wang Jianguo, who had just spoken those words. Wang Jianguo was now the deputy director of the engineering department.

Most of the security zone's walls were built under his direction.

"Times have changed. Even if we find the army, what can they do to us?"

"According to what Ding Zhixiong just said, there are at most a platoon of troops on the highway."

"The number is definitely no more than a hundred."

"And they've suffered heavy casualties."

As he spoke, his eyes suddenly lit up with fervor, and he continued to Zhang Ye: "I've heard the military is stationed in some secret bases near the urban area."

"If we can learn the locations of these bases from them..."

"We will surely find a lot of technology..."

"Guns, cannons, even tanks..."

Zhou Hongbing grew more excited as he spoke, but the expressions of a few people in the conference room became strange. These individuals were either older or more conservative by nature.

Before long, someone couldn't help but interrupt him.

"As you just mentioned, there are no more than a hundred people."

"But the problem is, there are only dozens of soldiers' corpses at the scene. Do you know how many are still alive? What if they still maintain a formidable fighting capability and strong will to fight?"

Zhou Hongbing was suddenly at a loss for words.

He had indeed not considered this situation.

In his view, an army dispersed by a horde of zombies, even if some survived, how much combat power could they have?

It's highly probable they have already crumbled mentally, losing their proper combat effectiveness.

That was their opportunity.

Whether it was recruiting these specialized combatants or extracting military and government intelligence from them, it was a sure-fire deal.

But Zhao Dechu, the head of the convenience factory who had just raised doubts, clearly suggested another possibility.

That is, far from collapsing, these soldiers might have honed a remarkably strong will to fight amidst the zombie siege and successfully broken out on the highway.

If it's really the scenario he described, then the outcome is completely different from before.

A military force composed of professional soldiers is incomparable to militia.

Moreover, who knows how many of them there are still?

Ten people?

Or twenty people?

Perhaps thirty, forty, or even more than fifty?

Every additional person means one more trained soldier added to this remnant army, increasing the danger posed to the company.

Zhao Dechu's words clearly shattered the earlier illusions some people held in their hearts.

In their place, the initial voice rose again.

"So it's better for us to avoid contact with them as much as possible, to avoid trouble later."

"After this incident, the army most likely has already withdrawn."

"They definitely won't be coming to the urban area anymore."