After waiting for a few minutes, George, with his hands covered in oil, climbs onto the minibus.

He holds up the broken fuel pipe in his hand, and says, "The sound of that horn break this old fuel pipe. I do a quick check, and there are several other parts of the minibus that are damaged. Unfortunately, I can't fix them without the right parts. But these damages aren't too critical. The minibus can still move, as long as the speed doesn't exceed 40 kilometers per hour. We should be able to make it to the Dellai Base."

Without George having to say more, Oliver can guess that the minibus will probably be completely useless after reaching the base. Thinking that the minibus can only go at a speed of 40 kilometers per hour now, everyone starts cursing the team that has just passed by.

Liam can't help but curse loudly, "I hope those sons of bitches run into tens of thousands of zombies up ahead and get eaten alive." But everyone knows this wish is hard to come true, so they just get on the bus in silence.

Since Victoria's ears are injured, James takes over as the driver. The team is short of medicine, so Victoria can only stuff cotton in her ears and lean back in her seat, closing her eyes to rest.

In this brutal world, she knows that the weak get bullied, and if they aren't strong enough, they have to endure.

At a speed of 40 kilometers per hour, the journey that originally takes one and a half hours is extended to two and a half hours.

It is already a little past two in the afternoon. Even if everything goes smoothly, they won't reach the base until around five o'clock.

Everyone knows that outsiders have to go through a 5 - to - 6 - hour quarantine check before entering the base, and then there is also the matter of getting assigned housing.

They will probably have to sleep in the quarantine area tonight.

The journey is relatively smooth. There are a lot of people heading to the Dellai base, and they come across seven or eight teams along the way.

These teams are different from Oliver's group. The people who survive the apocalypse are all elites, and each team has at least thirty or forty people. It is hard for many to believe that Oliver's team of only ten people has made it this far.

So when many teams pass their shabby minibus, they greet them in a friendly way.

Nearing five o'clock, the minibus finally approaches the area under the base.

At the exit of the highway, there are five steel towers. On each tower, there are four soldiers operating heavy machine guns. The muzzles move from time to time, aiming at the vehicles being briefly inspected below.

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The entrance and exit are filled with cars waiting for inspection, and dozens of soldiers in camouflage uniforms are scattered around, highly alert with their gun safeties already off.

James lines up the minibus in the queue and says, a bit wearily, "This is the only road to the Dellai Base. It's about 50 kilometers from here to Dellai City, the capital of Dellai State. This base was probably transformed from a town. I get this information from the radio when I'm at the base before. I'm not really sure about the details.

At this point, Frederick, a bit excited, takes over the conversation. He has decades of experience in electronics repair and often fixes radios, so he knows quite a bit of news.

He says, "The Dellai Base is established by surviving officials, together with the surviving soldiers from the military region. Dellai City is an international metropolis, It has a permanent population of five million and a floating population of tens of millions. It is impossible to use it as a base.

Under the pressure of tens of millions of zombies, they have to evacuate. They clear a small town 55 kilometers away from Dellai City and build the current base, which is Vulcan Town, the place we're going to."

Vulcan Town is an important town in Dellai State. There are several large machinery factories and dozens of food factories. Perhaps that's why it is chosen as the base.

The factories here can provide conveniences. For example, with a little modification, the large machinery factories can produce guns and ammunition, and if used well, they can even assemble heavy - duty vehicles. However, what they might value more is probably the food factories. After all, in the apocalypse, food means survival.

Almost an hour later, it is finally the turn of Oliver's minibus. The inspectors show little interest in this shabby and battered minibus. Usually, a job that requires five people to check is done this time by only two people in customs uniforms, unarmed, carrying laptops.

They get on the minibus.

As soon as the two get on the bus, they look around, their eyes full of disappointment.

Soon they notice the rice bucket, and they excitedly run over, lift the lid.

When they see the white rice, they exclaim, thinking they are very lucky.

Without saying a word, they take out bags and start filling them with rice, completely ignoring the people on the bus.

Oliver is shocked and angry. He stands up and shouts, "What on earth are you doing?"

The shout makes the two of them stop for a moment, but they quickly stand up and sneer, "Normal inspection of items. Guns, ammunition, and contraband will be confiscated."

Oliver is furious. He points at the rice and asks, "Is rice a contraband item too?"

The two turn livid with anger and say, "Boy, if you want to enter the base, be obedient. Otherwise, if the inspection fails, we'll kick you out. The base doesn't accept teams infected with the XR virus."

Oliver is so angry that he wants to kill them. He never expects such blatant extortion in the apocalypse.

Liam, stands up, takes out a pack of cigarettes, and hands one to each of the two men, smiling, "Guys, don't be angry. The young man is impulsive. Take the rice. Our team should pass the inspection, right?"

The two men's expressions soften. They light the cigarettes and pat Liam on the shoulder, saying he is sensible.

Then they continue filling the bags with rice, and more than half of the large bucket of rice is taken away.

The inspection work is simple - confiscating weapons, registering the personnel, and recording the team leader. But because of the greedy demands of these two men, it becomes extremely uncomfortable. Oliver even starts to wonder if coming to such a base is the right choice for them.