Chapter 125 Trouble in the Underground Pipeline

Pill's former talent skill was called "Fine needle and dense thread," a skill possessed by many furry animals.

It was a pretty effective group attack skill. Although its power wasn't particularly strong it was quite useful for dealing with large numbers of enemies, such as zombies, mutated flies, and mosquitoes.

But Pill's recent attack was clearly a single-target attack and much more powerful, even penetrating the building's exterior wall.

Pill hadn't evolved a new talent skill back then, so it was still using the regular"Fine needle and dense thread."

An evolved version of the "Fine needle and dense thread" that can possibly control the quantity and attack strength?

That was unheard of.

William and Pill experimented outside for a while and finally confirmed that Pill's "Fine needle and dense thread" skill had indeed evolved. Now it could control the number of hairs it fired. When firing many hairs, the power was relatively small; when firing fewer, the power was greater. Moreover, the long, straight, dense golden hairs on Pill's neck could be fired individually, with much greater power than the hairs from other parts of its body.

Touching Pill's dense golden fur, William knew that its single combat power had now risen to be one of the team's best. If Candice and Jack didn't have the Edge of the Moon, they probably wouldn't even qualify to compete with Pill, which could freely fire a "Fine needle and dense thread."

With the newly evolved and majestic Pill on guard duty, William had to join in processing the wild boar. He had no choice since there was too much boar meat, and everyone had been busy for half a day without even finishing half of it.

Fortunately, with Anthony and Donovan, plus David and his five assistants, and now William and the somewhat recovered Lucy, they finally processed most of the boar meat by the middle of the night, leaving a bit to finish the next day.

After resting in the building for a night, everyone got up early, finished processing the rest of boar meat, and then headed to Hope Base under the leadership of Anthony and Donovan.

Since there was too much boar meat to carry in one trip, William had to find another building to hide the remaining half of the boar meat, planning to retrieve it after returning from the base.

In the survivor base, Pill, the large golden dog, would attract too much attention. So, William decided not to bring it along and left it to guard the boar meat.

Since this place was some distance from Hope Base and the zombie density around was low, William found two cars, smashed the windows, and fiddled with them until he got them started.

Lucy asked, "You can even do this?"

Lucy looked puzzled. Others might not know, but she knew William's original identity was just an ordinary student. The only thing different about him was having a popular girlfriend. But the more she interacted with him, the more she felt that this man didn't seem like a student at all.

'Ordinary student don't pull off stuff like this! This technique is too professional, even professional car thieves would be impressed!' Lucy thought inwardly.

William shrugged and didn't answer.

This skill was nothing special. In the apocalypse, it was almost a necessary skill. In an era where the industrial system had completely collapsed, many survivors could assemble a few abandoned cars into a functioning one as long as they had gasoline.

More than ten people sat in the two cars, heading in the direction indicated by Anthony and Donovan. Half an hour later, they arrived at a sewage treatment plant.

"This is something Anthony and I discovered; no one else knows about it," Donovan said proudly. Seeing Lucy, he even upgraded the team's female member quality index from A to S, so it wasn't surprising that he occasionally bragged.

Anthony stated, "That's Hope Base over there."

Anthony, more composed, pointed to a spot not far away.

Everyone looked through binoculars and understood why Anthony and Donovan used the sewer to get in and out.

Hope Base was clearly hastily constructed, with bricks and cement filling the gaps between buildings, creating a makeshift wall for defense. It was based on a small community and expanded to create some safe areas.

The area looked decent from the outside. After all, Hope Base wasn't as crowded as the city, so it could accommodate thousands of people.

Although William knew that Hope Base would eventually become Cloud Mountain's warband, it was clear that the base was struggling at the moment.

At this moment, the entire external area of Hope Base was densely packed with zombies. It seemed that most of the zombies in Hope Base had been attracted here. They surrounded the base, clawing and howling at the buildings and cement walls. Occasionally, there were even mutated zombies among them. In just over a minute of observation, William saw a second-level brain-sucking zombie and a second-level footed frog zombie.

Besides these zombies, some mutated animals had also settled around the base. For example, near the road to the east, there was a group of over a hundred mutated poultry, including chickens, ducks, and geese, each as large as a dog. Their flying ability had significantly improved; they could fly quite high but couldn't sustain it for long, only gliding a short distance after it tookoff.

These were likely poultry from nearby rural areas that had mutated for some special reason. Since they had become bloodthirsty and carnivorous, they had gathered here.

The highest evolution level among these poultry was already second-level, and there was more than one. So neither the base's people nor the zombies could do much about them. Instead, they often attacked zombies to fill their stomachs.

With no real danger and readily available food, it was no wonder they didn't leave.

William noticed that the guards on this side of the wall were more numerous than elsewhere, indicating that the base's inhabitants were also wary of these poultry with some flying ability, fearing they might fly over the wall and attack the survivors inside.

"The days at the base haven't been great. On the other side, which we can't see, there are even more mutated zombies, many of which are second-level evolved, just like your big dog, with white crystals on their foreheads. They frequently attack the base, and almost every attack results in casualties."

Anthony led William and the others into a factory building in the sewage treatment plant, opened a locked iron door, and led the way inside, explaining the situation inside the base as they went.

"Be careful, guys. These tunnels often have mutated rats and insects."

"Is it that dangerous?" David was worried after hearing Anthony's warning, as he wasn't an Evolving person. He continued to inquire, "Then why did you come out? What if you run into those things?"

David didn't say it outright, but his meaning was clear. Anthony and Donovan were ordinary people, and encountering mutated rats would likely result in them being eaten.

The two men smiled bitterly, and explained, "Well, there's no other choice; it's better than starving to death in the base. Fortunately, some of the mutated creatures in these sewers are afraid of fire, so carrying flashlights or torches can help."

The sewer network of Hope Base was indeed well-developed. Not only were the pipes easy for humans to pass through, but the ventilation was also good. It had a bit of a smell, but it wasn't as strong as expected.

Anthony was very familiar with the area. By following a few markings he had left behind, he successfully led everyone to the underside of Hope Base.

"There are four entrances to the sewers that lead into Hope Base. It's the only way in, and each one is heavily guarded. The guards charge a small fee for strangers, but you don't need to worry. They don't ask for much; anything will do. Food and weapons are preferred, and just a little bit will get you in. Other items depend on the guards' mood," Anthony explained.

As they approached, they could see some light coming from the dark tunnel ahead, along with faint voices. That must be the entrance.

"I didn't mention the entry fee earlier because it's not a big deal for you. Don't mind it," Anthony added.

William nodded in understanding, while the two men were leading the way, he signaled everyone to give him their weapons, which he then stored in his space crystal.

They walked forward, stepping on something soft and rotten. According to Anthony, they would reach the largest pipe in a few minutes, and turning into it would lead to the west entrance of Hope Base.

However, before they reached the entrance, they encountered seven or eight people coming from another tunnel.

Someone asked, "Isn't that Anthony? Out hunting? How was the haul?"

The leader, a middle-aged man, greeted Anthony but focused more on William and the others behind him.

William glanced at them and then lost interest. They were all ordinary people, and without firearms, they posed almost zero threat to him.

"Mr. Cooper," Anthony said as he nodded in greeting, his expression unchanged. Donovan, however, nervously clutched the bag containing his share of the boar meat.

"Donovan, found something good? Show me what you got?" a voice said nosily.

A man about the same age as Anthony and Donovan stepped out from behind Kieran Cooper. Without waiting for Donovan's consent, he reached for the bag.

Startled, Donovan quickly stepped back, but in the confined space of the sewer, he bumped into David behind him.

In that moment of hesitation, the man grabbed the bag, opened it, and exclaimed, "My God, such a big piece of meat?!"

Hearing Micah's exclamation, the others gathered around. Seeing the bag filled with dried meat, their mouths began to water, and they reached out to tear off a piece to eat.

Donovan panicked. This was mutated wild boar meat, which he had seen William cut from a second-level boar. Eating it would enhance his family's physical condition, which they desperately needed.

If it was taken now, what would he bring back?

Having eaten two meals of mutated wild boar meat since yesterday, Donovan was no longer the same. His physical condition had improved significantly. In his panic, he pushed Micah to the ground. Micah's head hit the pipe behind him, breaking the skin and causing blood to flow.

The incident happened so quickly that, except for William and the other Evolving persons who watched coldly, no one else reacted. Now that someone was injured, the situation became chaotic.

Kieran's smile vanished. He quickly went over to help his son. Seeing that he was not seriously hurt, he frowned and said, "Just checking out your stuff, did you have to be so rough? You're asking for a beating, aren't you?"

Anthony sighed inwardly but put on a smile and said, "Mr. Cooper, Donovan is impulsive, as you know. He just saw the meat he earned through hard work being snatched, so he got anxious. How about this, you can take half of that meat with you to give to Micah for his recovery."

William had promised them each two pieces of meat which he had generously given them nearly thirty pounds each. Giving up half meant fifteen pounds, which, according to Anthony, could be exchanged for at least a hundred pounds of rice and two barrels of water.

In a food-scarce base, this was a fortune.

But these people didn't realize it was second-level boar meat and still valued it as ordinary meat. Fifteen pounds, if rationed, would only last them two days.

"Alright, I won't make it hard for you. I'll take the meat," Kieran grabbed the bag, sneering at Anthony and Donovan's grim faces.

Just when they thought that was his only demand, Kieran added another condition, "And yours too."

He intended to take all the meat from Anthony and Donovan.

Micah commanded, "All of you, put your bags down!"

Micah, holding his head, saw the large bags carried by the people behind Anthony and Donovan. Greedily, he shouted, brandishing a blood-stained metal rod.

Micah wasn't stupid. He had already observed that several people in the group wore glasses and looked weak, clearly not much of a threat. There were also a few pretty women, though he couldn't see them clearly in the poor lighting.

The only ones who seemed capable of fighting were the two young men at the front. But they still looked somewhat immature, so he became bold.

Micah, who used to be a butcher, recognized the meat as coming from livestock like pigs or cows. Seeing how neatly it was cut, he guessed they had found a whole animal, and the rest of the meat was in the bags.

Kieran glanced at William and the others again, not stopping his son.

"Idiot!"In the silent sewer, a clear and melodious female voice suddenly cursed, drawing everyone's attention.

Natalie, arms crossed, looked coldly at these obvious troublemakers and said disdainfully, "Hand over the meat and get lost."

Among the group, the most hot-tempered wasn't the former military police Candice and Michelle, nor the scholarly Lucy, but Natalie, who had experienced the hardships of rural life. Having worked as a model, extra, and bar singer, she had faced many troubles, which had shaped her fiery personality. As she put it, if she hadn't been tough, she would have been taken advantage of long ago.

Seeing Anthony and Donovan being bullied, she had watched coldly, since they weren't her companions. But as long as William was in her sight, she focused much of her attention on him. Seeing William frown, she immediately knew these people had annoyed him, so she stepped forward.

Natalie felt this was what a subordinate should do, though she hoped to rise in rank eventually.

Micah cursed, "Fuck, you dare insult me? I'll beat you today."

This completely enraged Natalie.