To the Start of a New World

2.3

Lu Hao frowned down at some reports. He sat at his desk, the sun shining through the window behind him. Though it was a beautiful day outside, he didn't have the luxury of appreciating it.

The human population continued to dwindle, yet the number of zombies continued to rise. Not only that, but the zombies were becoming stronger. Up until the third year of the zombie apocalypse, most zombies were only about level 2 or 3. The most dangerous zones might have up to level 5 or 6 zombies, and any zombies stronger than that were singular appearances.

But now, ever since that level 10 zombie had appeared a year ago, the average strength of the zombies had jumped to level 5, and it was even common to see stronger zombies than those milling in the area.

Over the past four years, Lu Hao had worked to keep the borders of his territory and the road to F City clear and safe. But now, the base suffered weekly attacks.

Something had happened that had made the zombies stronger.

Reading this report, Lu Hao's brows furrowed, and he tapped a finger on his desk. He needed more information. More importantly, humanity needed to find a way to defend themselves from the ever more powerful zombies.

F City's government base was on the verge of collapse. At first, Lu Hao had tried to support it, but when the zombies started attacking the SG, he had to return to defend his own group. And when Lu Hao had left, the ones who stepped in were the triad group led by a mysterious man who Lu Hao only knew as "Kai".

The triad group had brought stability to F City, but the local government had folded under its power. Now, the connection between F City's government and the SG was just holding on by a thread.

Lu Hao had no interest in the politics of groups or territorial warfare. The SG was self-sufficient, and the last thing he wanted was to fight other humans. But the triad wasn't the same. To the triad, the SG, which didn't bow down to its tyrannical requests, was simply a thorn in its side. As such, it seemed that future conflict would be inevitable.

Lu Hao sighed. He wished that he could discuss this in depth, have someone to bounce his thoughts off of. But Ji Ling had been gone for the past four days to scope out F City and to find out more about the triad's influence, and no one other than her knew better about the current situation.

Still, staying cooped up here would do him no good. Lu Hao got up, leaving the reports on his desk.

Outside of the villa, which lay at the heart of the base, the territory of the SG had undergone enormous change. Watchtowers rose up over the many walls and gates dividing and protecting the camp. On-duty SG members stood on guard at various entrances and vantage points, looking over the roads that led to the residential areas and toward the entrance to the base.

Lu Hao walked out of the heavily-guarded section of the villa and into the forest at the back of the camp. The forest was used as a training ground, sometimes, and even now several recruits ran their laps between the trees, panting as they jumped over logs and hustled over the uneven forest floor. They saluted Lu Hao upon spotting him, and Lu Hao waved a hand with an encouraging smile.

He continued walking further into the forest until the tree coverage grew so thick that the few spots of sunlight glowed bright white against the shadows. And there, at the edge of the cliff, was a sturdy tree.

Lu Hao reached the base of that tree and looked up. A small treehouse was nestled between the branches. Without much effort, Lu Hao leaped up along the tree's branches until he reached a small footstep in front of the house's door. A mechanical pulley sat on that footstep. Lu Hao knocked on the door with short, sharp raps, then opened it. Beyond that door, sitting at a table beside the small treehouse's window, was Hong Sheng.