Chapter 113: Iron Claws

The logistics area was somewhat distant, but it was situated in a remote and spacious location, avoiding the need to pass through busy areas. They took a detour from the city outskirts.

Chen Lu and his group, comprising over eighty vehicles, formed a convoy. Who would dare to rob a group of survivors of this size? Even smaller groups of zombies obediently made way for them.

They encountered only a few roadblocks along the way, but they didn’t pose much of an obstacle. An hour later, Chen Lu’s group arrived near the logistics park.

Before the apocalypse, Chen Lu had been here to scout suitable warehouse locations and had contemplated collecting supplies from this area. He was familiar with the routes.

The roads within the logistics park branched in various directions, offering multiple routes. Inside the logistics park, there were several warehouses, as well as small factories with varying numbers of employees, ranging from dozens to hundreds. There was also a living area serving the employees within the factory, and nearby were some single-story houses.

As they passed a large warehouse, Chen Lu remembered it stored beverages and alcoholic drinks. He instructed Xia Haoran, who was riding a motorcycle, to check it out.

Xia Haoran returned and reported, “It’s empty inside.”

Chen Lu didn’t seem too concerned, but Zhao Hai was quite disappointed. He commented, “It seems like we’re not the only ones here. Well, it’s just a warehouse, not many people should be inside. Ah, if only we had come earlier.”

Easily accessible supplies were undoubtedly picked clean a long time ago, and there were bound to be survivors nearby.

They arrived at the first courier station, a branch of Express Delivery Inc., rather quickly. Small vehicles were parked by the roadside, while the cargo trucks lined up at the entrance of the courier station.

Before even getting out of the car, Chen Lu noticed a large number of zombie corpses by the roadside. The crystals had been extracted from them, and the stench was overwhelming. There were probably around three hundred corpses.

Chen Lu was taken aback. Had someone been here before them? When zombies hadn’t evolved to the first level yet, they were relatively easy to kill. Chen Lu and Su Dazhu once dared to kill a zombie near a courier station. However, once they reached the first or second level of evolution, it became much more difficult.

Unless they were forced into a dire situation, even a large group of survivors wouldn’t necessarily have the courage to attack a courier station.

Chen Lu climbed onto the roof of one of the cargo trucks and looked into the courier station. He couldn’t see the entire scene clearly, but he did notice a group of zombies, probably a few dozen, and all the items inside seemed to be unopened.

Chen Lu squinted his eyes, realizing that someone had killed some of the zombies but not all of them. They probably planned to wait until all the zombies were dead before taking the goods. It seemed like they relied on clever tactics to lure the zombies, slowly diminishing their numbers. However, before they could finish, Chen Lu had arrived.

Chen Lu chuckled, thinking that this was an advantage for him. However, he couldn’t help but wonder if they believed that a few hundred level-two zombies could actually stop him.

He ordered, “Release Zhang Kun’s group.”

Chen Lu’s people surrounded them to prevent anyone from escaping. He continued, “Our people will cooperate with you on this mission, but you will take the front positions as punishment. After this operation is over, we’ll consider it settled.”

“I’m doing this for your own good. If you never dare to kill zombies, how can you survive in this world?”

“Those who perform well and are willing can join us.”

Chen Lu’s “I’m doing this for your own good” comment actually made Zhao Hai chuckle, but he didn’t dare to laugh out loud. The group had mentally prepared themselves for this situation, and although they were unwilling, they had no choice.

Facing off against the zombies offered a better chance of survival than running away or resisting.

Inside the courier station, the six hundred people split into three groups, heading in different directions. There weren’t many zombies left inside, totaling just over a hundred, much fewer than Chen Lu’s group. The zombies were scattered throughout various areas within the courier station.

Ironically, when the zombies saw such a large group, they turned and fled deeper into the station. They knew that their fellow undead were further inside. Despite their reunion, the number of zombies was still far fewer than Chen Lu’s group.

The zombies continued to flee, trembling against the walls. They seemed to understand that it was not acceptable for a large group to bully a smaller group of zombies. This situation amused Chen Lu.

The zombies’ intelligence was still quite low, and they didn’t even consider breaking through the walls to escape. Instead, they just shivered in fear.

It was clear that low-level zombies didn’t understand fear. They only wanted to avoid being overwhelmed by sheer numbers. When they realized they couldn’t escape, they immediately charged towards Chen Lu’s group.

Chen Lu didn’t hold back; he intentionally allowed Zhang Kun’s group to entertain the idea of death. After all, there were several more courier stations to clear, and these people needed to understand that if they didn’t quickly kill the zombies, they would be the ones in danger.

Chen Lu instructed them to prepare their abilities and then launched them in waves against the zombies. The zombies, with no tactical understanding, mindlessly charged forward. The combined advantage of numbers and tactics caused many zombies to die before they even reached Chen Lu’s group.

Despite the success in defeating the zombies, over twenty people were injured, and some were fatally wounded, beyond the reach of healing spells. Chen Lu had Liu Qi, Wang Ling, Gao Yue, and Mi Li treat the injured survivors.

It might seem straightforward, but not all injuries could be easily treated. However, even with the loss of a few lives, they had managed to eliminate over a hundred zombies. The zombies had been cornered with no escape route, making it easier to defeat them. In an open street, it would be much riskier to pursue fleeing zombies.

Without Chen Lu urging them forward, who would willingly stand at the forefront and risk their lives? Mi Li and her group played a crucial role in saving the injured survivors.

They would continue to collect supplies from this courier station before moving on to other locations.

…

“Boss Liu, we have a big problem. Our hard-fought battle results have been seized by others. A large group of people has entered the area.”

“Cao, give us another three or four days, and we can clear out the zombies and obtain the supplies inside. If someone else takes it from us, our week-long effort and risk would be in vain, wouldn’t it?”

“Well, I took a look, and they have nearly a hundred vehicles. It’s frustrating, but even if we don’t want to, if we provoke them and they retaliate, we could lose everything.”

Growing angrier by the moment, Liu Haoyu, a young man with a fiery gaze known as Boss Liu, exclaimed, “I can’t stand this. Why should they take what’s rightfully ours? Just because they have more people?”

Someone sighed, saying, “Boss Liu, having more people is indeed an advantage. It’s unlikely they’d be willing to share with us.”

Despite being relatively young, Liu Haoyu was called Boss Liu. Many older individuals present deferred to him. He snorted and said, “No matter how many people they have, can they match Iron Claw’s might? Let’s lure them to Iron Claw’s territory and let Iron Claw wipe them out.”

Hearing the words “Iron Claw,” everyone’s expressions changed dramatically, revealing fear. It was because they had lost over thirty people when they ventured near Iron Claw. If it weren’t for their larger numbers and ability to scatter and escape, they would have all been killed by Iron Claw.

“That Iron Claw is just too monstrous. It has no weaknesses; it’s a death sentence no matter how many people you send. “Someone hesitated and said, “The plan is good, but we don’t know them well, can we really lure them to go to Iron Claw’s territory?”

Liu Haoyu had a confident look on his face. “Don’t worry; I’ll make them go, and they’ll definitely follow.”

Liu Haoyu was a psychic with a specialization in hypnosis, a different development path within the same category. He had used his hypnosis on each of these people, imprinting in their minds that following him was the right course of action.

This was as far as he could go with his abilities; he couldn’t make them willingly sacrifice themselves for him. Liu Haoyu was confident that his hypnosis would convince their leaders to trust him.

This method had been foolproof so far, and Liu Haoyu didn’t believe that his hypnosis would suddenly fail, unless he was dealing with zombies.