While Feng Jun and Li Lu were exploring the Shangqing City Wasteland, several people gathered in a room underground in Huaicheng District. All of them were looking at the large screen on the wall with grave expressions.

The images on the screen were real-time feeds from UAVs. This morning, ten small UAVs took off from Huaicheng District to conduct routine reconnaissance of the Shangqing City Wasteland. The screen clearly showed the streets of the wasteland packed with countless zombies, including many high-level Mutants that had undergone multiple mutations and evolutions.

A middle-aged man wearing gold-rimmed glasses and a dark suit walked to the large screen. He looked at the people seated below and said, "Everyone has seen the images captured by the UAVs. The Zombie Tide has formed half a month early and is beginning to spread from the streets towards the city's outskirts. Both its scale and the number of high-level Mutants are considerably larger than last year's."

Seated before him were the five actual controllers of Huaicheng District: the leaders of the Zhu Hong Business Association, Blackwater Merchant Guild, Red Hand Mercenary Group, Blood Bell Gang, and Hongwen Gang.

"Get to the point. If it's just an increase in scale, there's no need to call us all together," said a large, bearded man. However, at first glance, one would never associate him with being fat. Although his build was round, what lay beneath his skin was not greasy fat but muscle that had mutated over 79%. He alone occupied two and a half seats at the conference table. This man was Fang Xinglong, the leader of the Blood Bell Gang.

The middle-aged man standing in front of the screen looked at one person seated among them, who was Zhu Wenyao, the leader of the Zhu Hong Business Association. She appeared to be a middle-aged woman in her forties, but her actual age exceeded sixty. Her eyebrows and temples showed a few strands of white hair.

Zhu Wenyao nodded to the middle-aged man on the platform, indicating her agreement. The middle-aged man standing in front of the screen pressed the remote control a few times, and the large screen began to play footage from another UAV.

"We also dispatched two Cuckoo stealth UAVs. These two UAVs successfully approached the largest nuclear crater, designated No. 01, in the center of Shangqing City and captured two segments of footage there."

The first image showed a UAV passing through skyscrapers. The streets below were even more crowded than in the previous footage, filled with various Mutants. Even the windows on every floor of the buildings were packed with all sorts of zombies.

The camera followed the UAV's flight, and after flying past a building, the view suddenly opened up. What appeared on the screen was a massive deep pit, the largest nuclear crater in the center of Shangqing City. This funnel-shaped nuclear crater was occupied by a gigantic mass of flesh and blood. Its surface was composed of countless blood vessels and pulsating organs, constantly writhing and twisting. Thick, fleshy tentacles extended to the crater's periphery, already clinging to and covering several buildings around the crater.

Around the Blood Nest, large Mutants, five to ten meters or more in height, were visible everywhere. These high-level Mutants stood tightly around the Blood Nest, as if waiting generals preparing for battle. In the very center of the Blood Nest was a large hole, from which countless tiny creatures were continuously flying out.

The UAV seemed to notice the creatures flying out from the center of the Blood Nest and was about to zoom in for a closer look. However, the unknown creatures that had been continuously flying around the Blood Nest's center suddenly split off a group and flew towards the UAV. In the blink of an eye, this group of creatures flew in front of the camera, and then the UAV lost its signal.

Then came another video segment captured by the following UAV. This UAV had been trailing the first one at a distance of one hundred meters and clearly recorded the moment the first UAV crashed.

From the video, a swarm of crow-sized unidentified flying creatures rapidly approached the UAV and directly attached themselves to it. The first UAV only lasted two seconds before losing power and crashing. Subsequently, this group of creatures circled in the air for a minute before flying towards the second UAV, and the footage ended there.

The middle-aged man cleared his throat and said, "This is the last recording transmitted by the two Cuckoo UAVs. I believe everyone can generally understand what they saw, and I will only add two points. First, in previous years, we repeatedly dispatched Cuckoo reconnaissance UAVs into the center of Shangqing City for reconnaissance. Although they were occasionally shot down, it was always by high-level Mutants with helium crystal energy values above 300 points. The swarm-like Mutants discovered this time, according to the values transmitted by the UAV, have energy points between 20-30, classifying them as low-level Mutants, which we have named Blood Crows."

"Second, we repeatedly reviewed the images of the first UAV crashing and could clearly see that when the Blood Crows attached to the UAV, they released a faint blue electric current from their bodies. It's clear that Blood Crows possess the ability to release biological EMPs."

"The Cuckoo UAVs are military reconnaissance UAVs with optical stealth and silent flight, and they possess a certain degree of electromagnetic pulse defense. The fact that Blood Crows can quickly detect and destroy military UAVs means I don't need to explain what this implies. The Blood Nest has evolved flying creatures capable of releasing electromagnetic pulses. I believe everyone now understands the situation we are about to face. In the upcoming Zombie Tide, not only will our UAVs and aircraft face a significant threat, but all of our mechanical equipment will also face the threat of being rendered unusable."

After the middle-aged man finished speaking, the hall fell into silence. After a long while, Zhu Wenyao, seated in the middle, spoke, "The enemy is already prepared. Everyone, please voice any thoughts or questions you have so we can discuss them together. Sitting here doing nothing is useless."

Hei Qin tapped the table with her mechanical arm, thought for a moment, and said, "Swarm formation, small size, high speed, capable of releasing biological pulses—it's clearly designed to target our large equipment. If these creatures appear on the Battlefield, I don't believe our army will be able to exert much strength."

Fang Xinglong sneered from the side and said, "Indeed, to be able to instantly shoot down military reconnaissance UAVs, it truly counters our equipment. Without the support of Power Armor and heavy equipment, ordinary armies will have little advantage against the Zombie Tide. My biochemical humans, however, can still fight. Oh, by the way, Miss Hei Qin, your female soldiers are mostly semi-mechanically modified, aren't they? If they encounter those, it would be unfortunate. Why don't you come to my Blood Bell Gang? As long as you become my wife, I will definitely protect you and your little ladies."

Hei Qin sneered after hearing this: "Pah! Fat pig. Even if I were lying in bed, would that little thing of yours still work? If the zombies really break in, I'll kill you first."

Fang Xinglong didn't get angry upon hearing this, only lecherously scrutinized Hei Qin's body as if looking at a grand feast.

"If it really comes to it, we can hide. Go into the underground shelters, close the missile silo and Refuge doors. Those zombies can't open anti-nuclear doors, can they?" said a person sitting next to Hei Qin. This person looked relatively young, only in his twenties, with a square face and wearing a military uniform, but on his right arm, he wore an armband with a blood-red handprint. This person was Jiang Si Yuan, the captain of the Red Hand Mercenary Group. He had a strong military demeanor; in fact, he was indeed a soldier, at least he used to be.

Unlike Song Peng, he was born in a Refuge. His father was a military officer in the Refuge, which is why he was able to be born there, where personnel quotas were limited. Because the Refuge had always implemented militarized management, Jiang Si Yuan grew up with a military education from a young age. By the time the Refuge's operational years were reached, he had already inherited his father's position in the Refuge.

Unlike those Refuges that had been looted, because of long-term militarized management and Jiang Si Yuan's strong insight, he quickly realized that the theories his father had taught him had long been abandoned in the wasteland. So, he led the army from the Refuge to start a mercenary business in the wasteland, and it grew better and better, becoming one of the five major forces in Huaicheng District.

Zhu Wenyao shook her head after hearing this and said, "Constantly hiding will not work. Although the data transmitted by the UAVs is limited, the area of the Blood Nest in Nuclear Crater No. 01 has expanded by 15%, which means its speed and quantity of zombie production have increased by at least 25%. And we don't know if it has hatched any high-level Mutants yet; it has already hatched Blood Crows similar to a UAV swarm. If it evolves zombies capable of breaking through protective doors, where would we go then? If we hide in the underground base, what about the above-ground city we painstakingly built? Moreover, without trade, how long can each family's food supply last underground? Our combined population is around fifty thousand people, and the missile silos and underground shelters cannot accommodate so many people."

Hei Qin said, "Since that's the case, we should strike first. Use long-range firepower to inflict as much damage as possible on the zombies, at least to reduce their numbers. No matter how powerful the Blood Nest is, it's still a flesh-and-blood creature. We can quickly produce anti-aircraft artillery. No matter how many Blood Crows there are, as long as they cannot break through our firepower net, no matter how many zombies there are, they won't be able to break our defenses."

Zhu Wenyao lowered her head and thought for a moment before speaking, "Alright, for now, this is the only way. Each faction will concentrate its efforts on prioritizing the production of anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft equipment. The production of all heavy weapons will also be moved up. Unnecessary missions and explorations should be canceled for now. We will also advance our defensive line by two kilometers. All idle labor both inside and outside the city will be mobilized to construct the defense line."

"Lastly, I want to say that during this period, I do not wish for anyone to make any petty moves, or else they can forget about staying in Huaicheng District."

After speaking, Zhu Wenyao stood up and left the room. Hei Qin also left the room without saying much. Fang Xinglong kept staring at Hei Qin's departing figure. After she left the room, he licked his lips: "Little girl, I'll get you sooner or later." With that, he also stood up and dragged his massive body out of the room.

After the three left, only Jiang Si Yuan and another person remained in the room. This person was Tian Jia, the leader of the Hongwen Gang. He appeared to be an unremarkable young man in appearance. He had not spoken during the discussion, and Zhu Wenyao had not asked for his opinion either.

After everyone had left, Jiang Si Yuan suddenly asked, "Brother Tian, what are your thoughts on this?"

Tian Jia said, "What thoughts could I have? It's been ten years. We've been stuck in place, busy with internal conflicts, while the zombies have been constantly evolving. Continuing to hide in this place is no different from chronic suicide."

After speaking, Tian Jia stood up and left the room. Jiang Si Yuan sighed after Tian Jia left, then also stood up and left the room.