Chương 73: A Guy Who Knows How the World Works

The plan was indeed viable, but Vince suddenly thought of something and quickly voiced a warning:"However, as far as I know, that isn't the only type of zombie..." Suddenly, a flurry of footsteps echoed as three people walked down the stairs. It was the trio of "porters" that Cody had gone up to fetch. Seeing them arrive at the perfect time, Vince had all three of them pull up stools and sit down to listen.

He then detailed the appearances and characteristics of the Banshee Zombie, the Spider Zombie, and the Mutated Hounds to Ben. Listening to Vince's descriptions, not only Ben, but the man accompanying him, as well as Cody and the others sitting nearby, slowly widened their eyes in horror. They had seen the corpses of the Mutated Hounds, but they had no idea there were so many bizarre and terrifying variations of zombies out there.

"Anyway, just remember: if you look into a room and see piles of rotting flesh or blood splattered everywhere, or if you hear sounds that are different from a normal zombie, shut the door and run immediately..." Vince paused thoughtfully for a second before continuing,"Even if someone gets grabbed or wounded, you still run. That is not something a few people can handle. Note down the apartment number, and wait for me to deal with it..."

After Vince finished speaking, Ben and his companion exchanged a look, both seeing the profound shock and terror in each other's eyes. If those monsters were truly as terrifying as Vince described, then thank god he had warned them in advance. If his hastily organized team of four or five guys stumbled into one of those abominations inside a cramped apartment, it would mean absolute, certain death! Realizing this, Ben immediately stood up from his chair and offered a slight, deeply respectful bow to Vince.

"Vince, telling us this is equivalent to saving our lives all over again. Please accept my sincere thanks..." Vince also stood up and firmly grasped Ben's shoulders.

"Ben, no need to be so formal, we're all on the same side. If you encounter a mutated zombie, just write down the room number or notify me... Oh, right..." Thinking of this, Vince suddenly remembered something. He waved his hand and called Cody over.

"Cody, where are those walkie-talkies you took to charge? Bring them here..." A moment later, Cody brought all the walkie-talkies down from the RV. They were fully charged. Vince turned one on and tested it; although there was a bit of static, they worked perfectly. He handed two of them to Ben.

"Take these. I'm usually on Channel 6. If anything happens, just hail me on here... It'll be much more convenient and save you from running back and forth."

"Ah! This..." Ben hadn't expected Vince to actually give two of the walkie-talkies back to them. Earlier, Zack had been lamenting how great it would be if they could find a few more walkie-talkies, but after asking all the survivors, they hadn't found a single one. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. With these, coordinating between the scouting teams upstairs and the warehouse guards downstairs would be incredibly easy!

Realizing their value, he didn't politely decline and reached out to accept them. There were six walkie-talkies in total, but Vince's group only had five people. Three vehicles, three radios, plus one spare was more than enough. Furthermore, Vince giving him the radios was explicitly to make it easier for Ben to contact him. With dozens of survivors, they were going to organize at least two separate teams to sweep the buildings simultaneously.

Just as Vince had warned, the probability of them encountering a mutated zombie was not low at all. To them, mutated zombies were an insurmountable chasm of death, but to Vince, they were dessert! With his current stats, taking down a 1, 000-HP mutated zombie wasn't overly difficult for him. Plus, sweeping residential apartments meant he wouldn't run into a situation like facing three Mutated Hounds in an open field at the same time. More importantly, the Crystals! The Potions!

Only after truly experiencing the profound power of the crystals and potions did Vince realize that they were the absolute key to overall progression! Although his current situation seemed stable and improving, he knew this was merely a temporary illusion. His gaze drifted past Ben, looking toward the distant sky, his thoughts flying to a much larger scale. Linjiang City had a population of thirteen million.

Based on his current estimates, with a mutation rate of at least eighty to ninety percent, there were easily over ten million regular zombies out there... Just like in his dream earlier, merely thinking about that suffocating terror of being completely submerged sent a chill into his heart. Not to mention the mutated zombies, and even that 10, 000-HP monstrosity that Vince didn't even want to think about—they were all harbingers of a fundamental shift in this world.

Since Ben was mobilizing these survivors, Vince absolutely had to utilize them. He would let them do the exploring for him, and then he would swoop in to harvest the bosses, securing more of that supernatural power—potions and crystals—that didn't belong to this original world! During this time, Cody and the other two had finished unloading the supplies from the hand trucks. Seeing this, Ben offered another respectful nod to Vince.

"Vince, it's getting late. You guys just got back from the outside today, you should get some rest early..."

"Mhm, alright. Take care on your way back..." Receiving Vince's response, Ben and his companion grabbed their hand carts, flicked on their flashlights, and navigated through the gap between the RVs, heading back toward the supermarket. Judging by their actions, they were planning to sleep directly inside the warehouse courtyard to guard the supplies tonight.

"How is Ben this stingy? He really only brought exactly five people's worth of basic rations..." Zoe kicked one of the cardboard boxes, muttering her complaint, but was completely caught off guard by the clink-clink of glass colliding inside.

"Why don't you open it and look..." Seeing Vince's knowing smirk, Zoe grabbed a key in confusion and sliced open the cardboard box. Her eyes widened as she saw an entire case of canned mixed fruit. She quickly opened the other boxes. They were filled with premium, vacuum-sealed luxury snacks—braised eggs, duck parts, chicken legs, and high-end sausages! There was even a fully sealed case of high-end liquor!

"Whoa! I was wrong..." Zoe admitted her mistake decisively.

"Stop projecting your petty mindset onto a guy who actually knows how to conduct himself..." Vince reflexively reached out, wanting to flick her on the forehead as usual. But looking at this brand-new, clean version of Zoe, he felt a bit awkward and couldn't quite bring his hand down. Instead, he settled for lightly ruffling her hair.

"Anyone of them knows how to handle social dynamics better than you do... Let's go, carry these upstairs. We'll pop open a few cans as an appetizer." With that, he picked up two heavy jugs of water and headed up the stairs. Behind him, Zoe and the boys eagerly scooped up the clinking boxes of premium loot and followed. When they arrived upstairs, Claire had already set the table.

Various cuts of meat and the remaining fresh vegetables covered the surface, alongside large bowls of rehydrated wood ear fungus and mushrooms resting on the TV stand. Since there was no electricity for the overhead lights, she had hooked up a power strip and mounted two desk lamps high up to serve as their light source.

"Wow! What a feast! It smells so good!" Having not eaten proper human food in six days, Zoe couldn't help but gasp the moment she smelled the boiling hotpot base. She looked ready to dive headfirst right into the pot. The other two boys were also audibly swallowing their saliva, their eyes practically glued to the table. Vince took out two cans of fruit, poured them into a large bowl, and placed it on the table.

He then pulled out two bottles of the liquor Ben had just delivered, twisted the caps off, and poured himself a small shot.

"Everyone, sit down..." He said, passing the bottle of liquor toward the group.

"Whoever wants to drink, pour it yourself. I'm not going to stand on ceremony with you guys..." To his absolute surprise, it was Zoe—sitting immediately to his left—who grabbed the bottle first and poured herself a massive, brim-full glass.