41: You're sending me to my death.

Although Gouzi was extremely unwilling, he had no choice. Only Qiu Wuhui from the Materials Group dared to go out with a Metal Zombie, but how to convince Qiu Wuhui? Gouzi was stumped.

The Metal Zombie followed behind Gouzi, looking very respectful, but the other people in the Shelter felt their scalps tingle when they saw it.

Gouzi stopped and said to the Metal Zombie, "Big brother Zombie, you should walk in front! I'm afraid you'll suddenly bite me from behind."

The Zombie roared; it couldn't understand what Gouzi was saying at all. The only one in the entire Shelter who could communicate with Zombies was Tian Ming.

Gouzi made a gesture for it to go forward, and only then did the Zombie understand. It walked in front of Gouzi and arrived at the materials management office.

Wan Yu was on duty outside the warehouse, and when she saw the Zombie, she screamed in fright.

Gouzi quickly said, "Don't be afraid, this Metal Zombie won't attack humans anymore. It has been completely controlled by our boss."

Wan Yu dared not believe him; her whole body was tense, and she dared not relax her guard.

"What are you doing bringing this thing here?"

"It has been assigned to the Materials Group and will go with us to collect supplies in the city. The boss told you to get it a set of clothes to wear!"

"Alright, I'll go get the clothes." Wan Yu stood up trembling, carefully walked around the Metal Zombie, and entered the warehouse.

A moment later, Wan Yu came out holding a set of clothes. It was a worn-out gray work uniform, originally prepared for members of the Materials Group.

She handed the clothes to Gouzi, nervously saying, "Take it, but you must be careful not to let it harm anyone."

Gouzi took the clothes and cautiously approached the Metal Zombie. He held the clothes in front of the Zombie, signaling for it to put them on.

The Zombie seemed to understand his meaning, grabbed the clothes, and clumsily put them on its body.

Although this Zombie was entirely made of metal, it wasn't a mess. Aside from its iron face having no expression, once it put on clothes, it looked no different from a human.

Gouzi took the Zombie to the Materials Group and found Qiu Wuhui. Everyone else in Qiu Wuhui's group had already died.

He had been in a bad mood these past two days; people he had become familiar with were bitten into pieces by Zombies, which was a huge blow to Qiu Wuhui.

This rich young master was inherently a hot-tempered person. Although he had restrained himself somewhat, it was based on his fear of Tian Ming.

"Brother Qiu, the boss has assigned you a team member."

Qiu Wuhui looked up, and an expressionless metallic face stared at him. His hand trembled, and the cup in his hand fell to the ground.

"Gouzi, what kind of joke are you playing with me? You're telling me to take a Zombie out to collect supplies, aren't you?"

He found this ridiculous. The city was full of Zombies, and he was supposed to take a Zombie to collect supplies? How much courage would that take?

Gouzi said with a fawning smile, "Brother Qiu, everyone sees your ability. If no one takes the lead in this kind of thing, then I can't report back to the boss. You take the lead and test it out to see if this Zombie will protect you when it's in the city."

"Why should I take the lead? This Zombie only listens to the boss. It can understand what the boss says, but it can't understand what we say. Gouzi, are you doing this on purpose? I don't think you're asking me to lead; you're asking me to lead myself to death."

Qiu Wuhui was very angry. Although he had made mistakes before, he felt like he was being targeted by being subjected to such an experiment. Ever since he joined the Materials Group, he had gone out the most times and brought back the most things.

Qiu Wuhui's prestige and status in the Shelter and the Materials Group had clearly improved, but he had earned all of that by risking his life.

Now, they were giving him a Zombie and sending him to his death. Why was he the first one to take on such a dangerous task?

Gouzi tried to persuade him, but he couldn't get through. Once Qiu Wuhui's stubbornness kicked in, no one could budge him.

Gouzi's patience also wore thin, and he shouted, "Are you going or not?"

Qiu Wuhui was determined, and he shouted back stubbornly, "Why don't you go do this suicidal thing? You're afraid of death, so what does it mean to put this on me?"

"We must trust the boss. If the boss says it won't hurt people, then it won't hurt people," Gouzi said angrily.

"Boss, boss, it's always 'boss.' You think even the boss's farts smell good. Go ahead and complain to your boss and let him kill me. Anyway, I don't care if I die."

Gouzi fell silent, gritted his teeth, and took a deep breath before saying, "Fine, you and I, and this iron lump. We'll go out and collect supplies together. If something really happens, I'll die first. I'm afraid of death, but you need to understand that without the boss, everyone in this Shelter would die."

Qiu Wuhui was stunned. Gouzi could actually say something like that? This was no longer loyalty; in his eyes, it was blind loyalty.

But he couldn't refute what Gouzi said, because it was true. Without Tian Ming, the Shelter could not be so highly organized; order would have collapsed long ago, and they would have killed each other. The people in the Shelter wouldn't survive this winter.

Qiu Wuhui took a deep breath and calmed himself down: "Do you trust him that much?"

"Brother Qiu, I, Gouzi, used to be a thug. Fighting, eating well, living it up. Not a good person, living day to day. My old boss was Qin Biao, and he was even more ruthless than me. Before this, the people in the Shelter only saw fear and terror in our eyes. Although that kind of life before was pretty cool, we could do whatever we wanted. But everyone knew that it wouldn't be long before this Shelter would destroy itself. So I prefer the current life. Although it's the Apocalypse, the people in the Shelter still look at me with some fear, but there's more respect in their eyes because they know that now I'm reasonable and abide by the rules. I also know that as long as the boss is here, we can all live well."

Qiu Wuhui's lips curled into a disdainful smile: "You're addicted to being the second-in-command, aren't you? Why don't you go flatter him to his face?"

"He doesn't like flattery; he prefers to see action."

Qiu Wuhui was silent for a long time before looking up and saying, "Alright, I trust you. You, me, and this iron lump, the three of us will go out together. How confident are you that this iron lump will protect us?"

Gouzi said confidently, "Since the boss arranged it this way, then this iron lump will definitely protect us."

"I hope you don't eat your words. If what you say turns out to be wrong, we might not make it back alive."

Gouzi nodded slightly: "Don't worry, even if something dangerous really happens, I'll die before you."

Qiu Wuhui sighed. He stood up and patted Gouzi's shoulder. Regardless of Gouzi's motive, at this moment, Qiu Wuhui understood that Gouzi was also taking a gamble, even though this gamble seemed very foolish.

In this Shelter, the tasks assigned by the boss must be carried out. If there are no conditions, conditions must be created, but there can be no perfunctory work. So someone had to be the first to brave this muddy water. For Gouzi to do this, it was already very benevolent in Qiu Wuhui's eyes.