87: The chaos is beginning to emerge

"Captain Yao, come in quickly and sit down!"

At the entrance of the cave stood a middle-aged man with graying hair. This middle-aged man, named Liu Yang, was the Chief of this survival base, which only had a few hundred people.

At this moment, Chief Liu Yang's weathered face, marked with scars and furrows, was wreathed in smiles.

"I knew Captain Yao would be coming these past few days. This time, Captain Yao is in for a treat; we've caught quite a few Jade Heart Cicadas."

"Jade Heart Cicadas?" Captain Yao was surprised, and he unconsciously swallowed. "Haha, then I'm truly in for a treat! This is a delicacy that's hard to come by even in Xingyao Safe Zone!"

"It's just a few insects caught in the Wasteland; how can they compare to the delicacies of Xingyao Safe Zone? As long as Captain Yao doesn't mind, please come in and rest. I'll have someone prepare the food and drinks right away." Chief Liu Yang invited them in.

"Haha, well said, well said." Captain Yao motioned for his teammates to enter, while over a dozen water trucks remained at the entrance, with only a small team left to guard them.

The Stone Stockade Survival Base's entrance was a tunnel over fifty meters long. The tunnel was somewhat winding, and after decades of excavation, it contained many false tunnels. Anyone unfamiliar with it would fall into a trap.

After passing through the tunnel, one would reach the true Stone Stockade Survival Base.

This was a survival base carved out of the mountain, home to five to six hundred people, which was considered a considerable population in the Wasteland.

After a feast of wine and meat, both sides began to haggle.

As the saying goes, 'eat someone's food and your mouth is soft, take someone's hand and it's short.' After a good meal, Chief Liu Yang also got a satisfactory price.

They traded some furs and herbs for six trucks of water and a good amount of Starlight coins.

One truck of water contained about 20 tons, so six trucks meant 120 tons, enough for five to six hundred people to drink sparingly for two months.

As for water for bathing or washing one's face, that was out of the question. In the Wasteland, being able to drink clean water was already a luxury, let alone using it for bathing or washing one's face; even the Chief's family wouldn't dare to be so extravagant.

In the Wasteland, Earth Worms, gray rats, and some plants, after removing certain parts, were barely edible and wouldn't cause people to become Infected, but long-term consumption would drastically shorten one's lifespan.

However, the water in the Wasteland was absolutely not drinkable; continuous consumption for a period would inevitably lead to becoming Infected.

This is also why there was a profession of Wasteland water peddlers.

Of course, some survival bases had Shelters, just like those Level Four and Level Five transcendent families in the Safe Zone.

These Shelters, inherited for decades or even a century, mostly had their own water facilities. Although not abundant, supplying tens of thousands of people or as few as a few hundred was not a major problem.

After a night passed...

"Captain Yao, take care!" Chief Liu Yang's face was beaming. Last month, he had unexpectedly found an injured Level Three Pollution Beast, which was a harvest, allowing them to not only trade for two months' worth of water but also obtain a good amount of Starlight coins.

In the past, each trade merely provided just enough drinking water for the base for two months.

"Chief Liu Yang, no need to see us off!" Captain Yao waved his hand, his mood also quite good at the moment. He had acquired the materials from a Level Three Pollution Beast. He had initially thought that losing over a dozen trucks of water would result in a loss, but unexpectedly, it turned out to be a profit.

"Captain, I never thought we'd actually get materials from a Level Three Pollution Beast this time!" The scar-faced man beside him said with excitement.

"Yes, this time it can be considered a blessing in disguise. Not only have we earned back the water from over a dozen trucks, but we even have more than enough money to buy new water trucks." Captain Yao nodded with a smile.

"In short, it was a small profit, and besides, there are still several bases along our water route waiting to buy water, so we can make another trip back!"

"Excellent! When we return this time, everyone goes to the Emerald Hotel for a good meal!"

"Long live the Captain!"

At this moment, in the Stone Stockade Base, Chief Liu Yang was looking at the full water pool, which was filled with clean water.

"Chief, we also exchanged quite a few Starlight coins this time. Should we go to Spark Safe Zone to buy some auxiliary mutation potions? Xiaoxiao has recently shown signs of mutation, and her Talent is very good, but buying some auxiliary potions would make it more secure." A woman next to him spoke up.

The reason the Stone Stockade Survival Base didn't take the materials directly to the Safe Zone for sale was twofold.

Firstly, the fur, scales, horns, bones, meat, sinews, and blood of Pollution Beasts were often quite large and inconvenient to carry. Moreover, on the way, they were prone to being robbed by other Wasteland Hunters. Their survival base couldn't possibly send everyone to escort these items.

Secondly, the journey itself was fraught with risks. Even traveling light was life-threatening, let alone carrying a pile of goods. They weren't like those teams that specialized in selling water year-round; those teams usually had guilds behind them, which not only meant their own team's strength was sufficient but also that their backing guilds were formidable.

Thirdly, even if they went to the Safe Zone, the selling price wouldn't be much higher than selling directly to the water peddling team. In fact, if they encountered unscrupulous buyers, it might even be less.

Therefore, many survival bases would sell furs and herbs to the water peddling teams.

Liu Yang pondered for a moment, then nodded: "Alright, tomorrow morning, you and Biaozi, travel light and go to Spark Safe Zone with the Starlight coins!"

"Chief! Chief, it's not good!"

A panicked shout came from outside, the voice clearly tinged with fear.

"What's wrong!" Chief Liu Yang's expression immediately tensed.

"It's the Infected, someone has turned into an Infected!" The young man reporting was pale.

Chief Liu Yang hurried out, frowning at the same time: "One Infected? Are you all just freeloaders? A newly transformed Infected can be killed by anyone. How did you manage to make such a fuss!"

"No, it's not!" The young man's eyes were filled with fear, "It's not one, it's many! At least... over a hundred people!"

"What! Over a hundred people Infected!"

Chief Liu Yang's face instantly turned ashen, and his body swayed.

"Quick, quickly come with me to clean it up!"

The woman behind him also had a bloodless face, her lips trembling: "O-over a hundred people!"

She thought of the familiar faces from the past, now transformed into Infected, and her entire heart ached with a convulsive pain.

"No, it's impossible." The woman stumbled out.

At this moment, inside the cave, everything was in chaos.

"It's over, it's over, the Stone Stockade Base is finished!" Chief Liu Yang slumped to the ground, his eyes vacant.

It was more than a hundred! Due to the unexpected infection, the original hundred or so people had already attacked and bitten more than half of the people in the base!

There were dismembered limbs everywhere, and blood flowed like a river!

Roar! An Infected stumbled towards Chief Liu Yang.

Liu Yang looked up, staring blankly at that face. It was Old Man Zhang, the Old Man Zhang who always liked to tell stories to children and often taught them about herbs.

Now, his face was distorted with ferocity!

"Chief Liu Yang!"

The woman rushed over, her arms transforming into the powerful limbs of a fierce tiger, and her tiger claws directly swatted away the Infected.

Old Man Zhang was dead, or more accurately, he had died long ago.

"Ah ah ah ah!" Liu Yang's eyes were bloodshot, and he spat out a mouthful of blood!

"Why, why!"

"Who, who exactly is responsible!"