Chapter 46: Peace is Bliss

Chapter 46: Peace is Bliss

Su Jiaoning did not come out that night. The special operations team members were used to how he would hide and cry after every scolding, so they didn't pay attention to him. They finished all the roasted lamb, leaving nothing to waste.

The next day, Guan Yuanfeng led the special operations team to the computer mall. Su Jiaoning, with swollen eyes, still appeared in the team. His face was full of stubbornness. Although he didn't initiate conversations with Guan Yuanfeng, he communicated normally with the team members, acting as if nothing had happened.

Guan Yuanfeng ignored him, quickly assigned tasks, and led the team directly to the largest computer mall in Danlin City. The entire mall specialized in selling various computers and high-tech devices. The exterior walls of the mall were large glass curtain walls, shining under the sunlight, emphasizing a futuristic aesthetic. However, people at that time couldn't foresee that the future would not lead to high technology but to a jungle society.

The mall housed all the well-known computer and communication brands from before the apocalypse, including high-end gaming laptops, professional graphic workstations, lightweight notebooks, and various high-end smart tablets and phones. Jiang Rongqian's eyes lit up with excitement as soon as he entered the mall. "We need every tablet and phone we can get! They can be used to form a local area network when carrying servers, allowing internal communication within the team. The tablets and phones can also serve as command terminals."

"We need all types of robots—guide robots, cleaning robots, you name it! We can modify their programs to do many things!"

"Servers, hosts, hard drives, we need them all! These were already scavenged near the large bases, yet they are still here. Inconvenient transportation has its benefits too! A few years ago, people said small and medium cities were becoming hollowed out with population decline... We can search for supplies in these small cities when we go back."

"We also need those CDs and DVDs, music, movies, books! If we build a local area network in the future, these will be valuable resources!"

"Drones, drones, go find the specialty stores, preferably the warehouses!"

Jiang Rongqian was extremely excited, constantly directing everyone to collect items. At that moment, he seemed like the king of his domain, exuding unprecedented confidence, his eyes shining brightly as he commanded.

Guan Yuanfeng, Zhou Yun, and Comet continued to work closely together. There were no zombies in the computer mall. After all, the red fog descended at night, and there were no living humans or food here, so it didn't attract zombies. The entire street of computer accessories stores had very few zombies, and they were easily cleared out. Many places were direct warehouses, where they found a lot of high-end goods.

Following the list Jiang Rongqian made, they collected the best servers, computers, tablet terminals, and other devices. They also grabbed the best and most stable monitoring software, high-definition cameras, infrared sensors, door and window magnetic sensors, recording devices, and other surveillance equipment. They also swept through nearby malls for necessary wires, photovoltaic panels, and more high-end drones and other high-tech devices.

They returned fully loaded again that day, bringing back two large trucks full of goods. In an unsold empty villa in the neighborhood, Jiang Rongqian neatly categorized and organized all kinds of equipment. He regretfully told Guan Yuanfeng privately, "It's a shame we don't have more time here. Otherwise, we could set up a good local area network with these things."

Guan Yuanfeng said, "Keep the equipment. We'll come back when there's a holiday. For now, prioritize the security system."

After returning to the neighborhood, Jiang Rongqian, along with Tang Anchen, Dong Kexin, and others who were also technically skilled, ran around the neighborhood to install a surveillance network without blind spots. They set up an automatic identification and alarm system. If the surveillance equipment detected any abnormal activity, the system would immediately send alarm information through the computer.

They also reset the drone automatic patrol and defense system. Jiang Rongqian carefully taught Zhou Yun how to use, regularly check, and maintain the equipment to ensure it was in optimal working condition, how to check stored data, and more.

The control room was set up in an empty room on the 30th floor of Guan Yuanfeng's house. Guan Yuanfeng and his team removed all unnecessary furniture and supplies from the house, leaving only walls full of surveillance computer screens. They tested each alarm device one by one.

Afterward, at Zhou Yun's request, Jiang Rongqian used some portable equipment brought back from the hospital to convert an RV into a medical vehicle. They removed unnecessary furniture, setting up a testing area with a foldable medical bed. They integrated basic vital sign monitoring instruments such as heart rate, blood pressure, and blood oxygen saturation monitors, along with portable ultrasound machines, ECG machines, first aid kits, and essential emergency medicines and tools like tourniquets, breathing masks, defibrillators, and more. They also installed an oxygen supply system and breathing assistance devices inside the vehicle.

A drug testing area was isolated inside the vehicle, equipped with portable drug testing instruments such as infrared spectrometers or high-performance liquid chromatography devices. They stored commonly used drug testing reagents and solvents, chromatography columns, and other consumables, along with equipment and reagent storage areas and a small refrigerator.

Seeing how much Zhou Yun valued this vehicle, Jiang Rongqian upgraded its power system, installing large-capacity battery packs and inverters to ensure stable operation of the medical equipment. He also added an emergency lighting system to ensure sufficient light inside the vehicle.

While Jiang Rongqian and Dong Kexin were modifying the vehicle in the neighborhood, Guan Yuanfeng wasn't idle. He led the remaining team members to search hospitals, large supermarkets in the city, and brought back all useful food, gasoline, diesel, gas, coal, safely storing them in the underground parking lot and air-raid shelters of the buildings in the neighborhood.

After returning, Guan Yuanfeng, seeing the progress on the medical RV, led his team to apply anti-explosion and privacy films to the vehicle windows and checked the fire extinguishers and other equipment.

By this time, the special operations team members had realized, "Doctor Zhou isn't returning to Central Base with us?" With so many supplies scavenged, it was clear that they couldn't take everything by helicopter, so they could only pick the most important items. The captain's extensive scavenging over the past few days was clearly for arranging necessary supplies for Doctor Zhou's future life alone. Captain Guan was clearly worried.

Zhou Yun smiled. "It's too far, and I'm not used to living there. I prefer to stay in my hometown."

Su Jiaoning, who had been quiet for the past few days, was shocked. "How can you survive alone? It's not sustainable! If you go to the base, there will be a guard team to protect you, and you can live in a safe base with medical and health guarantees. Otherwise, if you get sick or injured, what will you do?"

Zhou Yun originally didn't want to answer him, but seeing Guan Yuanfeng's worried expression, her heart softened, and she explained, "I'm a doctor myself. I can treat minor illnesses, and for major ones, I can go to nearby survivor bases. It's not like I'm completely cut off from the world."

Tang Anchen, who had been well taken care of by Zhou Yun since he arrived, smiled and said, "Doctor Zhou and Captain Guan have built so much here over such a long time. It's normal to be reluctant to leave. Anyway, the captain can come back to visit in the future. Once the captain is established at Central Base, we can come back to get Doctor Zhou."

Zhou Yun smiled. "Xiao Tang is right. We're all grown men; we can survive anywhere."

Wu Jun said, "When I can't work anymore, I'll come to join Doctor Zhou. It's good here. I have no family or ties, and the base only values psychics. They don't care about us ordinary people. It's better to stay here with Doctor Zhou, planting vegetables, raising sheep, and fishing."

Dong Kexin laughed. "Don't forget our responsibilities and our brothers. The captain gave up such a good life for us, leaving his hometown and coming out of retirement. Now you're talking about retiring and giving up?"

Wu Jun glanced at Guan Yuanfeng, his lips trembled, and a look of guilt appeared on his face. "Sorry, Captain. I was just feeling disheartened for a moment."

Guan Yuanfeng said indifferently, "Less talk, more action."

Wu Jun didn't say anything, but Guan Yuanfeng continued to instruct, "Before we leave, clean up the compound. Dig up the dead trees, turn the soil, and plant things."

All the special operations team members shouted, "Yes, sir!"

They then laughed and looked at Zhou Yun, who smiled back.

After everyone dispersed, Guan Yuanfeng followed Zhou Yun to the lakeside, pointing and discussing where to plant what.

Dong Kexin then said to Wu Jun, "You're really thoughtless. Captain Guan could have retired by now, but he came out of retirement for our sake. And you're talking about feeling discouraged. If you stay, who will take responsibility? What about the others? Captain Guan gave up a comfortable life for us, so what does his sacrifice mean? If he wanted a comfortable life, he could have stayed here. Why should Zhou Yun be left here alone?"

After she finished, she suddenly felt something was off about what she said.

Liao Jinsheng had already started laughing. "Kexin, why do you make it sound like Zhou Yun is Captain Guan's, I don't know, like he's living a cozy life together with him? Are you saying Wu Jun is trying to steal his love?"

Dong Kexin couldn't help but laugh too. "It's just that Zhou Yun makes living so comfortable. He's so well-organized... and his temper is so good. Didn't you see how awful the Captain's expression was when you said that?"

Wu Jun murmured, "What I meant was, can't we all stay? Wherever the Captain is, we can be there too. What’s so great about Central Base? Ordinary people have to pay taxes to live there. Look, if we stay here, we can live comfortably and be self-sufficient."

Zhang Qi laughed. "You have no family to worry about. The rest of us do. Don't say such demoralizing things. This time, we managed to convince the Captain to come back, and his legs have healed. That's already a huge blessing. What more could we ask for?"

Liao Jinsheng said happily, "With Captain leading us and Comet, the mutant dog, our special operations team will surely regain our former glory. General Tan will have Captain Guan's support and will be able to stabilize the situation quickly. Things will get better and better."

Dong Kexin said, "I think Captain Guan might leave Comet with Zhou Yun."

Liao Jinsheng exclaimed, "Ah, such a strong combat force, staying here would be such a waste."

Even Su Jiaoning, who had been quiet until now, was drawn into the conversation. Comet, the mutant dog, was indeed of great research value... If they could activate psychic abilities in already trained military and police dogs... But he remembered Guan Yuanfeng's stern warning and swallowed the words back.

Dong Kexin said, "Without Comet, Captain Guan definitely wouldn't feel at ease leaving Zhou Yun here alone."

Jiang Rongqian, who had been the first to know that Zhou Yun would stay and that Comet would stay too, lightly coughed. "Alright! Everyone, get back to work. Mountains might crumble, rivers might dry up—rely on yourself. Even with Captain Guan, we need to be self-reliant."

Everyone agreed and stopped discussing the matter. Following Guan Yuanfeng's instructions, they spent two days digging up and clearing the frozen trees and plants in the Yunding Mountain Villa area. They collected the remains of some corpses that hadn't been completely eaten by zombies in the corners and had Comet burn them to ashes, which were then buried in the ground.

The neighborhood walls were all re-heightened, thickened, and reinforced. Guan Yuanfeng even led the special operations team members to rebuild the walls behind the main and back gates, leaving only a small but sturdy and solid anti-theft and fireproof iron door for entry and exit.

The dilapidated neighborhood shops were all cleaned up, and the resources in various parts of the neighborhood were reorganized and collected. The land by the lake and in the mountain forests was all turned over with a soil tiller.

The special operations team members were all young and well-trained, and once mobilized, their efficiency was extremely high.

With so many helping hands all of a sudden, Zhou Yun carefully planned the planting areas. In addition to the crops like rice, corn, and wheat already planted by the lake, he had the special operations team members plant fruit tree saplings they had brought back from the nursery, dispersing them into the fields from the greenhouses.

In the forest land, drought-resistant, cold-hardy, and salt-tolerant pasture grass seeds such as ice grass, alfalfa, purple needlegrass, and bluegrass were planted in blocks.

These types of grass could feed livestock such as sheep, cattle, pigs, geese, rabbits, and even fish. They were highly adaptable and suitable for planting under forests, and to some extent, they helped with ecological restoration and soil improvement. Most importantly, once planted, they needed minimal care and were very productive. With the neighborhood walls reinforced, sheep, pigs, geese, and chickens could be left in the forest, requiring little attention to feed them.

In the shaded area on the back of the mountain, Zhou Yun arranged to plant peanuts, mung beans, and soybeans, which were suitable for planting in forest land. These crops had nitrogen-fixing effects, and their leaves could be used as organic fertilizer to enhance soil fertility, requiring little care as well.

Zhou Yun planted practical medicinal herbs like gastrodia, honeysuckle, and notoginseng.

Jiang Rongqian, being an expert in this area, utilized the server and local network of the entire surveillance system to adjust the automatic sprinkler system for Zhou Yun. Apart from setting regular intervals for sprinkling and watering on the computer, he even created an automatic feeding system for the barn.

As long as feed and water were placed in the fixed stainless steel barrels in advance and the time was set on the computer, the feed and water would be automatically dispensed into the troughs and water tanks at the set time.

Although truly convenient, as expected, professional skills make a difference. Zhou Yun was thoroughly impressed by the seemingly unremarkable Jiang Rongqian and felt much closer to him. Even Dong Kexin felt a bit jealous: "Doctor Zhou, my explosive systems are also very impressive. I'll show you my skills someday."

Although the entire Yunding Mountain Villa was tightly surrounded, Guan Yuanfeng remained uneasy. He led the special operations team to camouflage the outside of the neighborhood. They went out and brought back several large trucks, blocking the road leading up the mountain. They also transported piles of sand, construction scaffolding, bricks, and more to surround the area.

The exterior walls of the neighborhood were painted with large slogans commonly seen at construction sites: "Safety is a blessing, stay at the construction site," "Safety in construction ensures productivity; civilized operations ensure safety," "Establish corporate image with civilized construction sites, gain owner trust with quality projects."

Rusty tower cranes and transport trucks were brought in from other construction sites, along with scattered building materials, broken concrete blocks, lime powder, rusty steel bars, and collapsed work sheds, completely disguising the neighborhood as a huge abandoned construction site of a building complex.

Warning signs such as "Construction site, no entry" were placed in front of the large trucks, and barriers were set up to make the entire area appear desolate and ruined.

Zhou Yun was greatly impressed by Guan Yuanfeng's camouflage strategy. He scattered some more grass seeds among the brick cracks and sand piles. With a bit of rain and the coming of spring, wildflowers and grass would flourish, making it appear like an abandoned building complex at the foot of a desolate mountain.

However, behind the seemingly desolate high walls, there were thriving orchards and flower gardens, abundant pasture grass, a variety of crops, and chickens, ducks, and geese running around, creating a lively mountaintop neighborhood.

For teams of psychics and ordinary people venturing out for supplies, an abandoned construction site on a desolate mountain would not hold valuable resources. Therefore, most people would avoid the risk of exploration and bypass it at the foot of the mountain. Even if someone managed to climb over the walls, they would likely only take some poultry and supplies, causing minimal loss. As long as Zhou Yun noticed any intruders, he could simply avoid them. Living alone in the compound, Zhou Yun could be completely self-sufficient without needing to leave. If he did need to leave, he could use a hidden small door. If he needed to drive, he could move the trucks to clear the road.

Even so, Guan Yuanfeng still didn't feel at ease. He led the special operations team to the reservoir and brought back a large number of mutated fish and other live fish, releasing them into the neighborhood's artificial lake.

This way, even relying on fish for food would provide enough meat. Additionally, with the rice, flour, and other food collected from various supermarkets in Danlin City and stored in different locations in the neighborhood, Zhou Yun could survive for a long time without leaving. A water pump and a water storage and purification system were installed in the lower villa, ensuring a water supply even without rain. Water could be drawn from the lake, filtered, and supplied to the residences. A new set of solar panels was installed, and generators collected from outside were placed in various locations as backups.

Moreover, the special operations team members, enjoying daily feasts of fish and meat, were quite content and somewhat reluctant to depart. They relaxed by hunting in the nearby forests for two days, bringing back a bunch of wild ducks, wild chickens, wild rabbits, and other non-threatening live prey to be raised within the neighborhood.

With everything seemingly prepared, Guan Yuanfeng thought deeply and repeatedly, still feeling uneasy but finally setting a departure date.

"The zombie-repelling agents and zombie-luring agents come in spray bottles, each containing a single-use dose for easy application. Just store them in a dry and cool place."

"This box contains mutated nutrients that can boost immunity and steadily enhance psychic abilities. Take one tablet daily. If you're injured, you can take two tablets."

"This is wound gel, made from mutated aloe, mutated notoginseng powder, beeswax, and some other wound powders. It can quickly stop bleeding, accelerate wound healing, reduce inflammation and pain, and protect the wound. You'll likely use this often. I've made a lot and packed them into two boxes. Simply apply the gel directly to the wound."

"This box contains common medications: anti-inflammatory drugs, cold medicine, vitamins, fever reducers, painkillers, all with instructions. I've also noted some for cough, cold, and fever. If you're unsure, you can ask the doctors at the base."

"All homemade medicines are labeled with adhesive tags but do not list ingredients. If anyone asks, just say they were given to you and you don't know the ingredients. Try to use them only within the team."

"This box contains bottled mutated royal jelly and honey. You can give these as gifts to elders, such as General Tan. You can also mix them into your drinking water. Because they are mutated, they offer great health benefits. There's also a box of mutated psychic ginseng, which is for emergency situations. Slicing and taking it under the tongue can be miraculous in critical conditions."

"This box contains dried and vacuum-packed mutated fish noodles. One bag is a single serving. There are also fish sausages, regular sausages, and dried fish blocks. Just add hot water, and they're ready to eat."

"These two bags are mission backpacks, containing camping gear, emergency flashlights, multi-function knives, magnesium rods, power banks, energy bars, first aid kits, and more. It's not easy to gather these in the apocalypse, so just throw on the backpack when going on a mission. Even in emergencies, you won't lose much. I've prepared two backpacks; take one for the mission, and the other is a spare."

"Take the bow and arrow. I've also included a Tang sword, a cane sword, and a sickle. This stack of dried mutated fish skins can be taken to a leatherworker at Central Base to be reprocessed and sewn onto your combat suit as armor scales to enhance defense."

"I heard from Xiao Liao that the Central Base is lacking in supplies. Although the guards and psychics get some points discounts and rationed supplies, many things are still scarce. You'll likely need to spend points or time gathering supplies there, so it's better to bring these from here."

"This locked suitcase has a password, which is the same as the door's password. It contains the crystal cores you and Comet have collected. I've categorized and packaged the non-attributed and attributed ones by grade and quality, all labeled."

"You'll definitely need these at the base, whether for exchanging supplies or taking care of your teammates. Crystal cores are hard currency there, so feel free to take them."

Zhou Yun opened the password suitcase and took out two gold bars, giving Guan Yuanfeng a sly smile: "These are useless to me, but they should still be valuable at the base. Take them for emergencies."

Guan Yuanfeng gazed at him for a moment, a thousand words in his heart, but he simply stepped forward and hugged him: "Thank you, Zhou Yun." His eyes reddened, but he didn't say more. There was nothing else to say; he owed Zhou Yun too much.

The military green helicopter circled above Yunding Mountain Villa and then flew towards Central Base.

"Night flight."