"Don't we rescue them?"
Zhou Quan whispered, feeling a pang of guilt at the thought of them being surrounded by zombies.
"We are here to rescue those willing to join us and fight alongside us against the zombies, not some insignificant individuals!" Zhao Qingxuan stated without mercy. "If we were to come for them, we might as well have stayed home, conserved our energy, and saved some provisions!"
"Furthermore, in this apocalypse, do not harbor any saintly intentions. Such sentiments will lead to a miserable death!"
Qi Sheng and the others nodded in agreement.
"Go and tell them my words. Say that I will absolutely not force anyone!" Zhao Qingxuan sneered. "Those willing to follow us, we will escort them to safety. Those unwilling, we will not compel!" She had learned this tactic from Wang Luo.
Zhou Quan was a little speechless. What was the difference between this and coercion? Nevertheless, he conveyed the message truthfully to those who were hesitant.
"What? How can they do this? We are all humans, why won't they help us?" The group that refused to go was furious. In this apocalypse, shouldn't people help each other? Why wouldn't those people offer assistance? Where was their morality? Where was their humanity?
"Mutual aid? Alright, then you can hand over all your resources to us later!" Zhou Quan said disdainfully. In this apocalypse, one truly couldn't afford to show any mercy to others!
"Brother Xu, what do we do?" everyone asked their leader, Xu Kun, with furrowed brows. They were genuinely unwilling to go to Anluo City, which was infested with far more zombies than Ningcheng County. Going there would be even more dangerous. As for the earth fires, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions that Zhou Quan had mentioned, they dismissed them as unlikely events. Did the other party possess the ability to predict the future? However, without joining them, they wouldn't be rescued, and their current strength was insufficient to break out on their own.
Xu Kun stroked his chin and said in a low voice, "The only way now is to compromise for the time being. Once we are out, they can't possibly kill us if we decide to leave, can they!"
"Brother Xu is right! As long as we get out of the zombie encirclement, my fate is my own to decide!" a group of people whispered amongst themselves.
"Alright, we agree to go to Anluo City!" Xu Kun said with a smile to Zhou Quan.
The latter sighed inwardly and shook his head. "Let them play their games. I only need to take care of those I care about!"
Zhou Quan relayed the message to Zhao Qingxuan.
"Besides your group, are there any other bases in Ningcheng County?" Zhao Qingxuan inquired. Making this trip was rather troublesome, and it would be best to recruit more people if possible.
"Before the Earth Shift, we did encounter other survivor factions, and we even clashed over resources. But after the Earth Shift, the area was cut off by zombies, and we lost contact," Zhou Quan replied truthfully.
Zhao Qingxuan nodded, then instructed Qi Sheng to take a team of swift wind-element awakened individuals to scout if there were any other bases in Ningcheng County.
"Bring out your provisions and let everyone fill their stomachs first!" Zhao Qingxuan instructed. "We don't want anyone faltering on the road!"
"Okay!" Zhou Quan could only comply with Zhao Qingxuan's wishes. In any case, the matter of provisions would not be his concern once they reached Anluo City; that was for the leaders to worry about.
Seeing the provisions being distributed, Xu Kun and his group were furious. Those were the supplies they had prepared to take into the mountains, and now they were being handed out? However, with Zhao Qingxuan and her group in charge, he dared not voice any objections.
"Sigh, eat up, eat up. We're hungry too!"
Zhao Qingxuan inspected the supplies. They had a substantial amount, especially staples like rice and flour. There were also many dried goods, such as kelp, dried shiitake mushrooms, dried wood ear mushrooms, cured meats, and various sauces.
"If nothing else, these provisions alone are enough to feed tens of thousands of survivors here for over half a year!" Zhao Qingxuan smiled faintly. If they hadn't been unable to withstand the zombies, she suspected Zhou Quan and his group would not have sought external help so quickly!
Seeing the provisions made available, everyone ate heartily. This was especially true for the ordinary people. The ordinary people here truly had no status. The awakened individuals ate only once a day, while these ordinary people ate once every few days, and even then, they were not adequately fed. Some had even fainted from hunger. In this era, ordinary people had no status. They couldn't kill zombies and had virtually no value for survival in this apocalypse. Since they had no value, why would resources be wasted on them?
"Seeing the people here, one can appreciate how fortunate our ordinary people are back home!" someone beside Zhao Qingxuan chuckled.
"Later, we'll bring these people back and let them share their treatment here with our own," Zhao Qingxuan said.
Ningcheng County was a small county town with a population of hundreds of thousands, and its area was not very large. Thus, Qi Sheng and his team returned shortly.
"Boss, there aren't many surviving buildings here, only a few dozen. However, some buildings are already occupied by zombies, and not many are actively fighting them," Qi Sheng reported.
"Good. Then, after we get the people here out, we'll take the survivors from the other survivor bases as well!" Zhao Qingxuan looked at the group that had clearly eaten their fill and said, "Everyone prepare to fight your way out with us. Ordinary people stay in the center, and awakened individuals will guard the outer perimeter to protect those inside!"
"Ah? Protect ordinary people? We... we have to protect those useless ordinary people?" some awakened individuals exclaimed in surprise. Those ordinary people were of no use. Why protect them? Wouldn't they waste food in the future?
"What? Do you have an objection?" Zhao Qingxuan's beautiful eyes turned cold.
"No, no!"
"Then shut up, everyone, follow me and fight our way out!"
At Zhao Qingxuan's command, the awakened individuals protected batches of ordinary people as they fought their way outward. Of course, almost everyone was carrying various supplies in bags. No one dared to waste provisions now; these were lives!
"Brother Xu, I think those people are crazy! They're taking so many ordinary people with them. Don't they know they'll waste a lot of supplies?" a awakened individual named Cai Ji complained to Xu Kun.
"What does it have to do with us? We'll part ways with them later anyway," Xu Kun replied. "They can take those people, but these provisions belong to us. We'll ask for them back later!"
"That's right! These provisions were collected through our hard work, and many people died for them!" Cai Ji nodded.