Chapter 243 Invitation Card
When Michelle and the others arrived, they saw the once-dangerous armory opening its doors to them.
For them, it wasn't surprising that William, who always seemed to create miracles, could accomplish such a feat. After all, they had seen him survive many days in the Land of Death and hunt numerous high-level mutated creatures in that valley.
But for the new members of Cloud Peak Manor, the recent series of troubles being resolved smoothly had shown them the capabilities and god-like methods of their new leader.
And when crates of weapons and ammunition were laid out before them, they realized they had still underestimated William.
Many people around Cloud Peak Mountain knew about the armory. Apart from the initial benefits the Black-clad Convoy had gained from it, no one else had managed to take weapons from there.
Recently, due to a food raid plan, everyone knew that three factions had joined forces to attack the place but had ultimately failed. But now, William alone had taken it down.
Respect, tinged with a healthy dose of fear, blossomed in the hearts of Cloud Peak Manor's residents.
When Brian saw William, he came over to thank him. To be honest, when Brian was captured, he had prepared himself to be abandoned. He knew that for a base, a few Evolving persons were far less important than a large amount of food. In a post-apocalyptic world where interests came first, any other leader would have sacrificed him without hesitation, perhaps putting on a show of revenge later.
He truly hadn't expected William to take such a strong stance, forcing East Hill Village to release him. Now, seeing William, he sincerely expressed his gratitude and loyalty.
Transporting the weapons and equipment took some time. The Evolving persons were sent out to keep watch, while the ordinary people did the work. The core members were called into the warehouse.
Seeing these incubators, they were all enraged. They also gained a new understanding of the Demonic Monsters.
"This is Edna Garcia, a doctor and a renowned expert in biological medicine. She is well-known in the industry. She will be joining our base to conduct medical and other research. Now, according to her instructions, collect some samples here for future research," William briefly introduced, temporarily giving her the title of doctor to avoid scaring them.
The core members greeted Edna, who didn't stand on ceremony and began assigning tasks.
However, not everyone could handle such tasks. Natalie and Lucy lasted half a minute before running out, covering their mouths. Cecil didn't last a minute before leaving. The remaining members, like Michelle and Jack, were also pale. If they hadn't been former military police, they would probably have vomited by now. William had no choice but to do it himself.
Gemma, on the other hand, seemed the most normal, working expressionlessly. Edna didn't show any surprise at her demeanor, and they cooperated the best among everyone.
When they returned to the base, William saw a corpse hanging from the newly erected gate. It was the guy who had betrayed the team to East Hill Village. Spencer hadn't protected him and had sent him back to Cloud Peak Manor immediately.
William looked at the twisted corpse, squinting without saying a word. He knew why Spencer had done it. The things he had Michelle say must have had a significant impact, making Spencer cautious and unsure of Cloud Peak Manor's true strength.
But this was good. It was better to be feared than to be seen as easy to bully.
Looking at the corpse, William felt that his subordinates were becoming more and more adapted to the post-apocalyptic world.
It took them more than three days, almost four days to resolve those crises. Now, there were only a few dozen hours left before the zombie horde arrived.
So even though they had acquired so many weapons, the people at the manor only celebrated briefly before throwing themselves into frantic construction.
Every day, the base sent out hunting teams led by Evolving persons to attack the swarming zombie groups. Ordinary people were also forced to participate and were given weapons. They used bullets nearing their expiration date to divert and kill zombies, both training them and reducing the pressure for the future decisive battle.
The former goal was somewhat achievable. After a day of fighting, although there were occasional casualties, many people could at least hold their guns steadily, aim, shoot, and follow orders. As for the shooting accuracy, it couldn't be trained in a short time.
The goal of diverting the zombie horde, however, proved less fruitful.
Firstly, the survivors didn't dare get too close to the zombie groups. Even William, powerful as he was, wouldn't risk a solo approach. There were too many zombies. Once entangled, one would be overwhelmed in an instant. Secondly, the zombie groups had strong autonomy because of the high-level mutants leading them. They wouldn't deviate from their path for some noise or sparse food.
The scenario of tying a piece of flesh to a cliff and causing countless zombies to jump off was impossible in reality. Ordinary zombies, though clumsy and unintelligent, still had an instinct to avoid harm. Once they continued to evolve, their predatory instincts would far surpass those of humans, who had been at the top of the food chain for thousands of years.
Regarding why the zombie horde was moving in a fixed direction, zombie researchers from William's previous life had no unified explanation. Most believed the direction was set randomly when the horde formed. Therefore, it can be said that Cloud Peak Manor was just unlucky this time.
With a large cache of weapons, William's ideas began to multiply. He decided to push the defensive line down to the foot of Cloud Peak Mountain. The hunting teams were to rescue nearby survivors, while others dug defensive fortifications at the base, setting up a line of defense at intervals.
The plan was to set up four lines of defense from the foot to the top of the mountain, with the main gate of the base being the fifth and final line of defense. In his ideal scenario, the zombie horde would be eliminated here.
Additionally, several concrete strongpoints were built near the main gate of the base. Those would ensure that even if the base was breached, they could still cause chaos and damage to the zombie horde.
David and his team set traps everywhere except the main gate road. These traps wouldn't be decisive but could still kill some zombies, and the cumulative damage would be significant.
In short, the entire base was busy preparing for the upcoming zombie horde.
Yves also came, but not to help with the defense. He was there to collect a debt—William still owed him a bottle of two-star Evolution Elixir. However, William told him they would settle up after this battle and gave him some ammunition, though it was not free, causing Yves to roll his eyes in frustration.
But Yves wasn't a pushover. He accepted William's bullets but gave an invitation card instead of payment.
"What is this?" William asked, looking at the invitation card, which mentioned some kind of exchange meeting.
Yves said with a grin, "You know, there are only a few factions here. There's not much opportunity to make a big profit. If you clean up this place, those few factions might be gone. But I still need to do business, right?"
Yves was deeply shocked by William's handling of the crisis.
Others might not know, but Yves, the leader of the Black-clad Convoy, traded among several factions and was well-informed. William had single-handedly killed Armando, one of the prison leaders in Accraville City, then went to Central Island alone, killed three heirs of the Lowe Family, and retreated unscathed. He also sent people to East Hill Village to intimidate them. All this made Yves suddenly realize he had underestimated William.
Thinking about his previous little schemes, Yves now broke out in a cold sweat.
"The Mercy Vanguard warband is famous in Accraville City. Every member is an Evolving person, and now their number exceeds two hundred. They are the leaders of this exchange meeting," Yves said, sharing what he knew. "Besides them, the Star Beauty Company, Fierce Roar Warband, and Olive Green Task Force are co-hosting it. It's an unprecedented scale."
"Those invited are all powerful teams, companies, or individuals. Getting this invitation card took me a lot of effort," Yves stressed.
William held the exquisite card, feeling a bit tempted. Yves might not have noticed, but William saw a lot from this card.
It was a printed item with high-tech anti-counterfeiting features, indicating that the team making the cards could generate their own electricity and control a large printing factory. Ordinary machines couldn't produce this.
The meeting location was in the city center of Accraville City, suggesting that the Mercy Vanguard warband intended to test the participating factions.
Accraville City, being the state capital, was densely populated and thus densely packed with zombies, unlike the suburban areas such as Cloud Peak Mountain. The city was overrun with zombies and mutated creatures, not like here where one could walk for half a day without seeing a single zombie.
Reaching the city center required significant strength. Anyone who could reach the meeting point would have proven their strength, and such people and factions would likely have good items, providing a material basis for the exchange meeting and increasing its attractiveness.
With such strength and ideas, it seemed the Mercy Vanguard warband was indeed extraordinary.
William knew that trade was extremely important in the post-apocalyptic world. Mutual exchange could rapidly increase strength. Holding the invitation card, he had already decided to check it out.
With a substantial amount of ammunition in hand, Yves left contentedly. Although he decided to have more dealings with Cloud Peak Manor in the future, he wasn't ready to help them fight the zombie horde.
Despite the manor people's reluctance, the zombie horde still appeared within the Cloud Peak Mountain range. From the mountaintop, they could see a black line in the distance, slowly growing longer and thicker.
"Mr. Right, just as you predicted, several groups are following the zombie horde, planning to take advantage," Jack reported, dusty and gloomy. He had been skeptical when William mentioned it before, but now that it was confirmed, he was very daunted.
William smiled. It was very common in the post-apocalyptic world. Many factions would follow the zombie horde, occasionally fighting for Magic Crystals. When they encountered a defending settlement, they would watch from the sidelines, waiting to profit from both sides' losses.
"Let's go, let's deal with these people. Our good stuff isn't so easy to take," William said.
