Slow March, An Unexpected Order

Because of the mayhem that Heiyu caused, the time of departure was delayed for one hour. The expedition was made of 300 soldiers and 100 superfunction possessors. 20 armored trucks were dispatched and each truck had a capacity of 20 people. The long march set off at 9:30 as the 20 armored trucks advanced in a line. Wei and Mo soldiers took the 10 trucks at the front, all superfunction possessors sat on the 5 trucks in the middle and Wang Army was on the last 5 trucks. It appeared that the military wasn't full of crap, they did play the main role in this operation.

"Jeez, the truck is so bumpy. Master, why don't we drive our own mini-coach? My guts are smashed into bits."

The large-scale march wouldn't be like how Yun Che led his squad. Apart from the condition of the road, the zombies along the way were another reason why they moved so slowly. The march was off and on as sometimes, they'd stop to kill a herd of zombies and sometimes, the obstacles on the way would hold them up. It was nearly noontime and the trucks hadn't even left Lingjiang City. Sitting on Yun Che's shoulder, Heiyu asked more than once for a different transportation tool. Although he was being fussy, which he wouldn't admit, the march was truly painfully slow.

The captains of several superfunction squads who sat on the same truck with them still had a fresh memory of what Heiyu just did. None of them dared say anything because they didn't want whatever happened on those soldiers to happen on them. Even Lei Dashan, a close friend to Yun Che, kept his mouth sealed. Every time Heiyu opened his mouth, they'd get nervous and straighten their backs. They wouldn't relax until they were sure Heiyu was just complaining instead of causing any trouble. On this tension-relaxation rollercoaster, the captains never felt this tired before. It was more exhausting than killing zombies.

"Eat your energy bar and be quiet!"

After shoving an energy bar into Heiyu's mouth, Yun Che picked him up and threw him to Jiang Shang, who was obviously very interested in Heiyu. "Have fun."

Jiang Shang indeed was a weirdo. He was the first one to be interested in Heiyu. Normally, Ye Xingchen was the only one who would get Jiang Shang's full attention, but today, his starry eyes were fixed on Heiyu.

"OK."

Jiang Shang took Heiyu over with joy. After he said OK, he added "thank-you" as he remembered that Ye told him to say more words. Heiyu didn't make a noise because he got his energy bar. He lolled on Jiang Shang's lap, munching on the energy bar in his two forepaws.

After scanning over other people on the truck, Yun Che tried to be as casual as he could. "Hehe, Captain Lei, look how nervous you guys are. Heiyu isn't that scary. Look at him, isn't he cute right now?"

Cute?!

Everyone turned their heads to look at Heiyu all at once and then questioningly at Yun Che. "Heiyu is cute?" They couldn't believe Yun Che just said that! "Are you sure your conscience is still with you?"

"Uh, you can try to forget what he did earlier."

Even a cheeky man like Yun Che was kind of embarrassed. Being the master of a shameless pet sure wasn't an easy job!

Then it was the extended silence until Heiyu fell asleep in Jiang Shang's arms after he was full. Lei Dashan, one of Yun Che's friends, summoned up his courage and asked timidly, "Captain Yun, what makes you want to bring your pet?"

What he wanted to say but didn't say was, Yes, you can bring the pet but why the hell didn't you give us a heads-up. But as a clever man, Yun Che got what he meant.

"Trust me, I didn't want to if I had a choice."

The reason was Heiyu set him up but obviously, Yun Che wouldn't tell them because it would be super embarrassing.

"OK."

Lei Dashan was just asking but after he broke the silence, all the other captains started chatting. The tension was finally lightened on the truck. Someone asked why Yun Che disappeared in the last couple of days, Yun Che answered with a smile, "I was sorting the documents. Guys, please don't see me as a selfish person. Look, this is the information on zombies, mutant trees, and how to level yourselves up as superfunction possessors, as well as the way to use water superfunction in combats that I put together in the past few days."

As Yun Che spoke, he handed out the pieces of paper full of words. Since all the other superfunction possessors would figure out these things by themselves sooner or later, Yun Che might as well proactively give them information in exchange for their trust. As for the biggest secret——the way of using water superfunction, there was a huge difference between proactive sharing and passive answering. Without question, what Yun Che was doing right now could effectively win these guys' trust.

"Really?"

"Thank you so much, Captain Yun. We have a couple of water superfunction possessors in our squad."

"Same here. If water can fight, we'll be much stronger as well."

"The information is thorough. Many thanks, Captain Yun."

All captains threw themselves into the pieces of paper in excitement. Most people jumped right to the part where introduced water superfunction, only a few started from the first page. Many things that used to confuse them were clarified. At the thought of the fact that it took Yun Che 3 days to put together the instructional material, every captain was thankful and had more trust in him.

"Zeyu, distribute it to all the other squads and superfunction individuals. The stronger we become, the more likely we are going to survive the doomsday."

He prepared 30 copies in total to ensure that every squad and superfunction individual got one copy. Apart from his own people, there were 9 captains with them on this truck, the rest were on the truck behind them.

"No problem."

Zhou Zeyu browsed through the files when he took the stack of paper from Yun Che. They were cooperative as they all knew their captain and Xing Feng wanted to gain all the superfunction possessors' trust.

"Captain Yun, are you and Captain Xing…"

Pointing at their holding hands, Lei Dashan asked. It was just a simple question rather than an expression of distaste. The doomsday had lasted for two months, the number of females had plummeted. At the end of the day, they were just women, they were generally gutless. Even if some of them got superfunction, they didn't have the courage to go out there and kill zombies. Men, however, had needs, especially in the doomsday where you didn't know how many days you got left. Many men started dating men. Don't be shocked, homosexuality was more common than heterosexuality in the base as if heterosexuality was unconventional. Homosexuality had already been accepted by the public.

All the other guys yanked their heads up from the paper in their hands and looked at the couple after Lei Dashan pointed it out. Yun Che lifted and shook their holding hands and replied with a beaming face, "This? We are what you think we are."

He never intended to hide their relationship from anyone other than his own sister. Now that his sister knew it, he wouldn't care even the world knew.

"Congratulations! It might sound like hindsight but when we were on our first quest, I thought there was something between you and Captain Xing. And it's true! Chaoyang and Peak have become one family, we now have fewer chances to exceed you."

Lei Dashan was close to them so he could be straightforward, others just congratulated. Yun Che and Xing Feng smiled and said thank-you to everyone. It wouldn't take long for the entire expedition or even the entire base to know their relationship.

It had become obvious that the military intended to make the best use of the superfunction possessors. Finishing the quest was one thing, the military also wanted them to help clear the highway from Lingjiang City to the provincial capital. As the trucks moved toward the toll station, most superfunction possessors had discerned what the military was up to. Yet they were in the same boat now, the superfunction possessors had no choice but to obey.

"Let's have lunch first. After that, we'll need you to help us move the cars blocking the toll station."

It was 12 o'clock, the trucks drove into an auto repair station five hundred meters away from the highway toll station. The soldiers at the front had already cleared the auto repair station. When the last truck drove into the station, the soldiers closed the iron gates, keeping the zombies outside. Luckily, the Lingjiang highway toll station was in the suburbs, or else the zombies would have swarmed over them if it was on the outskirts of the city like a typical toll station of a big city.

"I think we won't be able to leave Lingjiang City today."

"Tell me about it. The military is just full of crap! There are numerous zombies and scrapped cars on the road. Walking on foot would be faster than the trucks."

"We're already in this now. Just get on with it."

"Shit!"

The superfunction possessors were pissed at the military as more work was assigned to them without notice. Clearing the highway? It wasn't easier than retrieving the seeds from the provincial capital. At this pace, they wouldn't get to go home until half a month later. And the longer they stayed in the wild, the more dangers they would stumble into. No one sighed up for a suicide mission.

"It seems they have really worked a lot on how to keep us out here."

Mo Wenyang didn't mention this to them previously, so the only reasonable explanation would be he got this order not long ago.

"Right."

Xing Feng had a glum look on the face. People who knew him could tell that it was the sign of his upcoming anger outburst. Yun Che held Xing's hand tightly and soothed him. "It's OK, let's have lunch first! We'll speak to Mo Wenyang after lunch."

"Are you trying…"

Xing Feng frowned as he got what Yun Che meant almost immediately. Yun Che just nodded and said, "The longer they try to keep us out here, the shorter I'll make this quest be. And I'll get the job perfectly done. Just eat."

Yun Che took a long dining table and a dozen chairs and the food that Yun Yao and Wang Suya prepared for them from Space. It was a flamboyant thing that he did because other squads had to sit or crouch on the ground, eating insipid field rations.

"Shit! I knew you got nice food. Rice with stewed pork and chicken thighs? Captain Yun, can I join your squad? This is brilliant!"

The captain of Joy, the squad ranked third in Southwest Base, stepped up to poke his nose into Yun Che's dinner. The salivating man was dazzled by the dishes on the table. Peak and Chaoyang got rice with stewed pork, roasted chicken thighs, stir-fried cabbage, hot shredded cabbage, and seaweed and egg soup, this was the best take-out package one could possibly get in the doomsday. It was hard for people to believe that it was just Peak's everyday meal. It was pure luxury.

"Sure. Join us and I'll make sure you get better dishes than these every day."

Chen Hua, the captain of Joy Squad, was a 28-year-old handsome, humorous fellow. It was said that he used to be a gangster before the doomsday who was cruel to his enemies but nice to his own people. Yun Che worked twice with him before and found him an OK guy, so he was happy to joke around with him.

"Wow, it sounds really appealing."

"Captain!"

Chen Hua seemed very interested. His boys immediately held him back as if their captain was really going to join Peak for the food. The existence of Joy Squad didn't matter that much but their boss would end up being a laughingstock if he did.

"Haha, join Peak, Captain Chen. Make room for us in the ranking chart so we can move up."

"Yes, Captain Chen. It's definitely worth trading your captaincy with the delicious food."

"Hey, you two! Why are you holding him back? You think it's your loss to join Peak?"

"Haha!"

Other captains all made fun of Chen Hua. The two members of Joy Squad didn't know what to say. What an unreliable captain they got! Chen Hua, however, didn't take the mocks seriously. He turned around and yelled back, "As if you don't envy the food that Peak eats every day!"

Well, spot on!

Of course everybody envied their food. Yes, this would just be a regular take-out package before the doomsday but now, it was a super luxurious meal that everybody would only get in their dreams.