In the secret chamber of Turmoil of War, it was autumn, and since the two were sleeping in the bedroom, it wasn't cold enough for Xiao Lou to stay still like a statue.
But it was winter, and it was snowing heavily. Xiao Lou followed his instincts and searched for a source of warmth in his sleep, hugging Yu Hanjiang, who was like a big heater, tightly. So much so that when he woke up the next morning, he found himself leaning against the man's chest, and when he looked up, he met the man's deep gaze.
Realizing she had slept in his arms all night, Xiao Lou blushed furiously, quickly sat up, and rubbed her temples, saying, "Sorry, I... I guess it was too cold last night..."
Yu Hanjiang's voice was slightly hoarse, but very gentle: "It's okay. It's really comfortable to hug each other for warmth when it's cold. You can continue to hug me to sleep from now on."
Xiao Lou: "......"
Do you have to be so blunt?
Xiao Lou was too embarrassed to look Yu Hanjiang in the eye, so she simply got up and left with a red face.
His teammates were all up, but he and Yu Hanjiang were the last to go to bed. Perhaps it was because sleeping in Captain Yu's arms made him feel warm and safe that Xiao Lou overslept today. He usually gets up at seven o'clock sharp, but today he slept until eight o'clock.
Meeting Shao Qingge's ambiguous gaze, Xiao Lou's ears turned red. She simply ignored him and turned to find Ye Qi.
When I got to the warehouse entrance, I saw that Ye Qi had built a snowman there early in the morning. As he drew eyes and a nose on the snowman's face, he excitedly said, "I've never seen so much snow. The snow is so thick, it's almost up to my knees."
It snowed all night last night, and the snow outside was knee-deep. The buildings in the distance were all covered in snow, and it was quiet all around. The whole world was covered in silver, and overnight it had become an ice and snow city.
The snow had stopped, but there was no sunshine. Such thick snow probably wouldn't melt for several days. The snow would affect the Challenger's movements. Zerg prefer cold and are good at climbing. If the Challenger fought the Zerg in the snow, the Challenger's chances of winning would be greatly reduced.
Ye Qi was having a great time building a snowman when he turned to Professor Xiao and said, " I scouted the area early this morning, and there wasn't a soul in sight within a kilometer radius. It seems the Zerg army hasn't had time to reach the East City District yet?"
Yu Hanjiang followed, and looking at the snow-covered world outside, he frowned slightly and said, "The place we found is the most remote warehouse in the entire city. If the Zerg army comes here, it means that the entire city has almost fallen."
Xiao Lou agreed, saying, "Their first step should be to occupy the central area and then spread outwards. Last night, the Zerg on that bus were probably a vanguard sent to scout the east of the city, but we wiped them all out..."
Ye Qi scratched his head and said, "So it seems we unintentionally did a good deed? Those twenty-odd Zerg were all burned to death, slowing down the infection rate in the East City District?"
Upon closer reflection, it's quite possible that the Zerg busload last night was a vanguard force, their camouflage and mimicry skills were Oscar-worthy. They just happened to run into them. Yu Hanjiang remembered the bus's license plate number, 301, and prepared accordingly; he burned all 20-plus high-level Zerg to death.
Yu Hanjiang said, "No matter what, everyone stay vigilant. Even if our prediction is correct, we only have two or three days to rest. After the city center falls, the Zerg will soon come to the east of the city."
The image of the Zerg swarming out of all the buildings to attack the residential area last night still sends chills down everyone's spine.
If the Zerg army arrives in the East City District, they might face the crisis of fighting tens of thousands of Zerg! They will be overwhelmed by the dense swarms of Infected, with nowhere to put their feet. They must devise a strategy to escape in advance.
A gust of cold wind blew by, carrying snowflakes that pelted everyone's faces, but the wind invigorated them.
Yu Hanjiang said, "Go back to the warehouse, wash up, have breakfast, and think carefully about the next strategy."
Ye Qi built a snowman under a tree ten meters away from the warehouse. Xiao Lou thought he was just building a snowman out of boredom, but after finishing the snowman, Ye Qi secretly put the eavesdropping device inside and laughed, "This snowman can be our scout. I can activate the eavesdropping device at any time. If there is any movement nearby, we can hear it even if we are deep in the warehouse."
Xiao Lou looked at him in surprise: "You've got some ideas, haven't you? Hiding the detector inside the snowman, no one will suspect the snowman?"
Ye Qi laughed and said, "Yeah, the snowman I made is too ugly. Most people would think it was just something a kid made randomly."
Xiao Lou turned around and looked...
It really is ugly; Little Leaf is quite self-aware.
When they returned to the warehouse, Liu Qiao and Qu Wanyue had already prepared breakfast. The eight of them ate milk and bread together. After a night's rest, everyone had regained their strength and were full of energy.
Even if there is no immediate danger in the survival room, it's not advisable to lie down and sleep in the warehouse.
Yu Hanjiang still wanted to plan ahead in case their temporary base was surrounded by the Zerg and they were unable to escape.
Thinking of this, he went to the guardhouse and handed him some food.
The security guard gratefully accepted the milk and bread and ate it, then said, "Please let me go home, okay? Look, you've already taken over this warehouse. I swear I won't call the police! There's no point in me staying here!"
Xiao Lou asked, "Where do you live?"
The security guard said, "My home is in the south of the city, quite far from here."
Xiao Lou said helplessly, "Then you can't go back either, because the snow on the road is very thick and no one has cleared it, so vehicles can't pass. You can't possibly walk back in the heavy snow, can you?"
The security guard was stunned: "Is the road completely blocked?"
Xiao Lou nodded: "Yeah, there isn't a single car on the street."
The security guard looked grim. Yu Hanjiang asked, "Where's a gas station nearby?"
The security guard was silent for a moment before whispering, "There's one two kilometers away."
Yu Hanjiang handed him the map and asked him to mark it. The security guard cooperated and made a mark for them.
Old Mo went out to check the bus. After a night of heavy snow, the entire bus was covered in snow, and the wheels were buried, making it impossible to drive. He looked at Yu Hanjiang and said with a headache, "If this snow doesn't melt, I..."
That means our car is totaled.
Yu Hanjiang had anticipated this outcome: "We'll see. If the sun comes out in the next few days and the snow melts, the roads will be passable, and we'll drive there. If not, everyone will have to rely on the displacement cards."
Old Mo nodded, then asked in confusion, " Why is Captain Yu looking for a gas station? The car's tank is full. We only drove about 30 kilometers last night, and the tank still has 80% of its capacity left. It should be enough even without refueling."
Yu Hanjiang said in a low voice, "I want to go to the gas station and get more gasoline. I'll set up an ambush around the area so that if a large number of Zerg come to our base, we can just detonate the gasoline and burn them to death."
Mo Xuemin stared in disbelief: "..."
Insecticides, while not particularly effective at igniting fires, can be devastating if gasoline cans are buried nearby and ignited, causing an explosion that will reduce any number of insects to ashes.
This is indeed a good way to deal with the Zerg.
After breakfast, Yu Hanjiang left Lao Mo, Long Sen, Qu Wanyue, and Liu Qiao behind while he took Ye Qi, Xiao Lou, and Shao Qingge to move gasoline. Ye Qi and Shao Qingge each had a teleportation card, which allowed them to move 200 kilograms of items at a time. Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou were responsible for scouting the way, with Shao Qi and Xiao Lou following closely behind. The four of them quickly teleported across the snow and arrived at the gas station marked on the map in the blink of an eye.
The gas station was empty; clearly, no one was at work today.
Yu Hanjiang found some empty containers at the convenience store next to the gas station, filled them with gasoline, and handed them to Ye Qi and Shao Qingge. The four of them carried the containers back and forth several times, eventually storing the large amount of gasoline in the warehouse.
Yu Hanjiang returned to the warehouse and joined everyone in setting up the traps.
They arranged all the gasoline barrels around the warehouse, setting up the first barrier for the base. If any Zerg came, they could detonate the gasoline to burn a large number of them and use the raging fire to draw a line, preventing any subsequent Zerg from approaching.
Immediately afterwards, Yu Hanjiang found a shovel and started digging behind the warehouse.
Ye Qi stared wide-eyed in shock: " Captain Yu, are you trying to dig a tunnel to escape?"
Yu Hanjiang explained, "The Zerg should occupy the central area within three days and spread to the four cities in the east, south, west and north. It's better to make preparations in advance before they arrive than to be surrounded by the Zerg and helpless."
Ye Qi gave a thumbs up: "Digging tunnels, that's an amazing idea!"
Xiao Lou asked, "Are you going to dig a separate underground passage?"
Yu Hanjiang said, "I'll try to find the city's drainage system. Usually, every city has a network of underground pipe systems. If we can open this underground passage, we can evacuate at any time if we are besieged by the Zerg."
Ye Qi asked worriedly, "Could there be Zerg underground as well?"
Yu Hanjiang frowned: "It's not clear yet, but it's always a possibility. Let's check it out in advance."
The teammates had no objections and rolled up their sleeves to help Yu Hanjiang dig the ground.
The security guard looked at them in confusion: "???"
This group of people suddenly broke into the warehouse in the middle of the night. They didn't steal or rob, but instead buried gasoline around the warehouse and dug a hole in the back. What were they doing there? Were they a construction crew?