The other team members dining nearby no longer looked at Ye Zi'an with fear; instead, they quietly ate their meals at their respective tables, occasionally glancing curiously at Ye Zi'an's every move from a distance.
This was, of course, the effect of the Tower of Babel, which gradually increased the favorability of the nearby residents, along with Ye Zi'an's previous arrangements.
Although killing had affected some people's opinions, most calmed down afterward and were willing to obey Ye Zi'an's orders, choosing to remain in this relatively safe fortress.
The screams coming from outside the fortress and the devastated city nearby deterred anyone from thinking about leaving.
Ye Zi'an quickly finished his lunch. He had to say that the food tasted excellent, at least at a three-star hotel level. For this temporarily assembled catering team, it was already the best they could do.
Ye Zi'an arrived at the city gate, where the teams had been neatly divided into three groups. Perhaps due to Anna's foreign status, her team had two fewer members than Chen Ruoxue's, but that wouldn't affect their ability to gather supplies.
For the Search Team, Ye Zi'an's standard was to focus on elite members. Although the numbers were small, their combat strength was formidable.
After all, when searching for supplies in the city, having too many members in a search team could easily attract the attention of zombies.
Scanning the area, Ye Zi'an noticed that the combat team members were all full of confidence. He nodded in satisfaction and spoke, "Today's task is to familiarize you with zombie combat techniques, and we will also head to the nearby gas station to gather supplies."
Ye Zi'an detailed the weaknesses of zombies, their attack patterns, and the risks associated with being scratched or bitten.
Heavy trucks had already been moved into the fortress by Ye Yu, arranged neatly on either side of the city gate. Fortunately, many of the veterans among them were drivers. A group of 20 people drove four trucks and two fuel tankers toward the gas station a few kilometers away.
In the apocalypse, the most important aspect for ordinary people was a shift in mindset.
The comrades they had fought alongside, who had shared their days, could turn into ravenous zombies in the blink of an eye.
Ye Zi'an personally took the lead, sitting in the passenger seat of the first truck, while the two fuel tankers were protected in the middle of the convoy.
The fortress's location had been carefully chosen by Ye Zi'an, situated far from the city center and surrounded by low residential buildings and many factories, making it ideal for the fortress's initial development.
Compared to the densely populated urban area of Xia City, it was practically paradise.
"Don't be afraid; just drive straight into the zombies," Ye Zi'an instructed.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
Under his command, the drivers transitioned from cautiousness to reckless confidence.
Before long, the drivers no longer avoided the zombies; instead, they crashed straight into them, turning the zombies into pulp. The following vehicles followed suit, resulting in scattered zombie deaths all around, contributing to the upgrade requirements for the Tower of Babel.
The three-kilometer journey was completed quickly, with the zombies behind them still slowly pursuing.
In the early stages, zombies had agility ratings of around 3-5, only half that of an ordinary person's speed. However, their greatest threat lay in their high infection rates and immense strength, coupled with the fact that they felt no pain.
"The Intelligence Team will go fill the fuel tankers, while the Search Team, led by Anna, will keep watch outside the gas station. Chen Ruoxue, you come with me to loot this convenience store."
After establishing a mental connection, Ye Zi'an could sense Anna's perspective at any time. Leaving her outside to lead the watch was the best option.
Ye Zi'an wielded his Tang Dao as he approached the entrance of the convenience store.
Outside the convenience store, dozens of zombies were gathered, repeatedly banging against the door, attempting to break in.
Sensing Ye Zi'an's presence, these zombies turned and lunged at the two of them, baring their teeth.
Ye Zi'an tightened his grip on the Tang Dao and struck at the zombies.
With a swift swing, even the hardest skulls were no match for the blade; Ye Zi'an cleanly severed the heads of the zombies in half.
Beside him, Chen Ruoxue dispatched a zombie with a spiked club, efficiently dealing with it. Such blunt weapons were far more effective against zombies than ordinary blades.
Together, they swiftly dealt with the dozen or so zombies, and with the additional zombies crushed during their journey, Ye Zi'an finally reached the task goal of 100 kills.
A system prompt echoed in Ye Zi'an's mind:
[Congratulations! You have completed the Tower of Babel second-level task: Kill 100/100 zombies. Mental link quantity +2. Training room is now open.]
[Tower of Babel third-level task: Kill a head zombie and one mutated zombie to enhance the functions of the first and second levels. Activate the manufacturing and processing functions of the Tower of Babel.]
Seeing the upgrade conditions, Ye Zi'an couldn't help but frown. While 10,000 zombies was a considerable number, dealing with mutated zombies presented a significant challenge; they were not only powerful but also rare.
In the original story, Su Chen encountered his first mutated zombie at least a month after his rebirth.
(According to the setting, a mutated zombie with a single attribute exceeding 100 is classified as a first-tier mutated zombie, 200 for a second-tier, and 400 for a third-tier... The attributes double for each tier. Generally, ability users of the same tier have attributes equivalent to 50%-70% of the same-tier mutated zombies. They can only engage in combat with same-tier mutated zombies after fully equipping themselves with weapons and gear.)
Suddenly, the tower at the center of the fortress emitted a faint golden light that enveloped it. Before long, it began to expand in all directions, and the Tower of Babel shot up, adding another layer beneath the original first floor.
The phenomenon occurring at the tower attracted the attention of many residents within the fortress, who came out from their workplaces to observe the spectacle.
Seeing that the tower had merely grown larger and thicker with no other changes, Zhao Wanrong realized this was the doing of Ye Zi'an. She quickly reassured the nearby residents, urging them to return to their tasks.
As everyone gazed at the more magnificent tower, their respect for Ye Zi'an deepened even further.
The tower now stood nearly 40 meters tall, and anyone atop it would be able to observe all movements of people and zombies within a ten-kilometer radius.
Ye Zi'an attempted to pull open the roller door of the convenience store, but it was locked from the inside.
Beside him, Chen Ruoxue spoke, "It seems someone has locked the roller door from inside."
Ye Zi'an nodded and thrust his Tang Dao straight into the door. The blade sliced through the edges of the roller door, cutting through the iron and creating a spacious entrance for Ye Zi'an and Chen Ruoxue.
Inside the convenience store, there was another glass door, which Ye Zi'an shattered with a punch. The sound of breaking glass caused a stir inside, followed by several terrified screams.
It appeared that there were survivors inside, not zombies.
What had been a dark convenience store was now illuminated by sunlight streaming in through the open door, revealing the layout of the interior.
There were five people inside the store, huddled in two groups, trembling against the corners of the walls. One group appeared to be a young couple, while the other consisted of three uniformed gas station employees.
Seeing that there were only survivors, Chen Ruoxue shouted behind her, "Team A, six people, come in and move all the supplies from the convenience store onto the truck!"
Thanks to Ye Zi'an's guidance, the concept of survival of the fittest had deeply ingrained itself in these individuals.
Immediately, four team members entered the convenience store, while the other two drove the truck to the store's entrance to begin transporting the supplies.
•~~~•~~~•~~~•~~~•
𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝘁: '𝗕𝗼𝗴𝗱𝗮𝗻 𝗣𝗼𝗽𝗲𝘀𝗰𝘂' 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝘆 $5 𝗧𝗶𝗲𝗿.
𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝘁: '𝗝𝗰1202' 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝘆 $5 𝗧𝗶𝗲𝗿.
𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝙋𝙖𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙤𝙣 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 35+ 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲:
𝙋𝙖𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙤𝙣.𝙘𝙤𝙢/𝗚𝗼𝗱𝗢𝗳𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿