Ice Age Apocalypse: I Hoard Billions of Supplies

Chapter 297: Madness

Chapter 297: Madness

Ling Feng and his men returned empty-handed, the atmosphere unusually heavy. No one wanted to speak.

Since they joined the army, they had never suffered such a humiliating defeat.

It wasn’t because they lacked ability—circumstances had been too limiting.

Facing a fortress-like shelter, their outdated, half-century-old combat weapons were simply no match.

Even in military theory classes, tackling such a fortified stronghold required precision bombing, not solo infantry assaults.

But the conditions they faced left them with no choice. The mission had to be completed, so they pressed on, despite the odds.

Now, Ling Feng and his Special Forces Team had the skills but no way to use them.

That cold night, a giant full moon hung in the sky.

Since the apocalypse, it had been a long time since they'd seen such a bright moon.

Yet, the cold moonlight felt like salt rubbed into the wounds of Ling Feng and his men.

After returning to Xu Family Town, they quickly ate dinner. Ling Feng told everyone to rest but reminded them to stay alert and not sleep too soundly.

Everyone nodded, knowing they were not just guarding against Zhang Yi, but also the villagers of Xu Family Town, who could turn on them at any moment.

Liang Yue returned to her snow hut.

As soon as she reached the door, she frowned.

Someone had been in her room!

Since contacting Zhang Yi, she had always been on high alert, afraid her secret would be discovered.

So, she had set a few subtle traps in her room—anyone entering would leave traces.

Without showing any emotion, Liang Yue walked calmly inside.

After carefully checking her belongings, she realized someone had tampered with her bed.

She reached under the mattress and retrieved a dark gold chip and a silver SIM card.

“This is…”

Liang Yue suddenly recalled Zhang Yi asking her for the location of her room.

It dawned on her that this must have been left for her by Zhang Yi!

The chip was a storage device that would need to be plugged into a computer to access. The SIM card, likely for encrypted calls, would prevent West Hill Base from monitoring their conversations.

With Yang Xinxin’s computer skills, this level of encryption wouldn’t be difficult to achieve.

Her phone, however, was hidden in a crack of a dead tree on the other side of the river, so for now, she couldn’t contact Zhang Yi to ask about the chip.

She pocketed both the chip and the SIM card, planning to reach out to Zhang Yi as soon as she could retrieve her phone.

After that, she sat on her bed and fell asleep without undressing.

…

The next morning, Liang Yue got up and joined Ling Feng and the others for breakfast, as usual, to discuss their next steps.

However, the Special Forces Team's camp seemed eerily quiet today. She saw almost no one around.

It suddenly hit her—most of them had been killed by Zhang Yi, and only a dozen or so remained.

When Liang Yue reached the dining area, Ling Feng was talking to Xu Dongtang.

"Gather all your people. I need a favor from you," Ling Feng said.

Xu Dongtang's face turned pale, his lips dry, clearly reluctant.

"Captain Ling, what... what do you need us to do?"

Whenever Ling Feng sought him out, it was never good news.

Ling Feng coldly replied, "Just follow my instructions, and I’ll tell you when the time comes. Now go!"

He waved Xu Dongtang away, signaling him not to disturb their breakfast.

Ling Feng wasn’t worried about the villagers running off.

They could flee, but they couldn’t escape their fate. Xu Family Town was the only place they could survive.

Leaving here would be suicide.

The town was already firmly in West Hill Base’s grasp, with no room for escape.

Xu Dongtang, pale and trembling, left the room.

Liang Yue, her eyes flickering with helplessness, pushed aside her sympathy for the villagers and sat down to eat.

Breakfast was the same as usual—white steamed buns, pickles, and stewed fish, with hot rice porridge simmering in another pot.

They couldn’t eat regular rice—it cooled too quickly.

Sitting beside the others, Liang Yue ate in silence, saying nothing.

Yesterday, Ling Feng and the others had already begun to suspect her, but Fatty Xu’s betrayal had shifted their focus away.

However, with so many of the Special Forces members dead, Ling Feng was more paranoid than ever. He trusted no one but a few close confidants.

Naturally, that meant he didn’t trust Liang Yue either.

After breakfast, Xu Dongtang gathered all the villagers in the town square, as instructed by Ling Feng.

When Ling Feng arrived, he quickly noticed some people were missing.

Most of the absent ones were women and children.

Clearly, the villagers, unsure of Ling Feng's intentions, had hidden them away.

Ling Feng didn’t care. He simply addressed the crowd, "Yesterday, Xu Family Town suffered heavy losses due to an attack by the villain Zhang Yi!"

"As soldiers, we cannot let this go unchecked. But we are short on manpower and need your help."

"I’m asking for 100 volunteers to come with us across the river!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the villagers panicked.

Every time the Special Forces Team sought them out, it ended badly.

Their once peaceful and happy lives had been shattered over the past month. They were now constantly on the verge of starvation, living under the threat of death.

If it weren’t for their fear of the Special Forces' weapons, they would have revolted long ago.

But after the first wave of rebels was killed, the rest had their spirits crushed. Unless the blade was at their throats, they didn’t have the courage to fight back.

The crowd murmured, voicing their complaints quietly.

But Ling Feng ignored them. He simply instructed Xu Dongtang, "I’ll leave it to you to gather 100 people. And make sure a few specific individuals come along."

He whispered a few names into Xu Dongtang’s ear, and after some thought, Xu Dongtang reluctantly nodded.

From the back, Liang Yue silently observed, puzzled as to what Ling Feng was plotting now.

But she knew that whatever it was, he was keeping her in the dark.

Still, she didn’t ask. She figured she'd find out soon enough.

After all, what could these 100 ordinary people possibly do?

…

At the shelter, Zhang Yi and Fatty Xu spent the morning playing video games after breakfast.

The women in the house played a bit too, but their skills were so bad that Zhang Yi quickly grew tired of carrying them.

But now that Fatty Xu, a fellow gaming nerd, had joined, at least he had a decent teammate.

Fatty Xu was deeply moved. "Boss, it’s great working for you! I even get time to play video games!"

He had expected Zhang Yi, surrounded by enemies, to be constantly on edge, always ready to fight.

He hadn’t imagined Zhang Yi's life would be so relaxed!

Zhang Yi smiled. "Work when it’s time to work, play when it’s time to play. As long as no serious threat shows up, I spend most of my time chilling and enjoying life."

But despite his casual tone, Zhang Yi wasn’t complacent.

The surveillance footage outside was being monitored at all times, and Zhou Ke’er and the others weren’t just here to have fun.

Fatty Xu admired him deeply.

He even regretted, for a moment, not seizing the chance to join Zhang Yi earlier, instead of wasting time chasing after Xu Lili.

Women were one thing, but how could they compare to the latest PS15 and thousands of AAA games?

Fatty Xu stared at the stack of game cartridges beneath the TV, eyes gleaming with greed. He wished he could play them all in one go!

"Boss, can I… hehe..."

Fatty Xu scratched his head, pointing at the games.

Zhang Yi understood his intent. "Go ahead, pick whatever you like!"

Fatty Xu eagerly rushed over to sift through the cartridges.

But at that moment, Zhou Ke’er, who had been watching the monitors, suddenly spoke up, "Zhang Yi, someone’s coming! And they look… strange."

Her eyes showed a mix of fear and confusion as she stared at the surveillance footage.

Zhang Yi's eyes narrowed. "What’s wrong?"

He stood up and walked over to take a look.

"It’s like a group of walking corpses heading this way."

Zhou Ke’er pointed at the screen, her voice shaky.

Zhang Yi peered closer and saw a slow-moving crowd about several hundred meters south of the shelter.

Their sluggish pace and stiff movements made them look like zombies from a movie.

If they were actual zombies, Zhang Yi wouldn’t be worried—he could easily deal with them with hot weapons.

"Zoom in," Zhang Yi ordered.

Xiao Ai zoomed in on the camera, revealing that these weren’t zombies at all, but rather a group of pale, stiff-looking humans.

Zhang Yi waved at Fatty Xu, who was still sorting through games. "Hey, Fatty Xu, come here and check this out. Are those people from Xu Family Town?"

Fatty Xu paused for a moment, then quickly rushed over.

After seeing their faces, he immediately confirmed, "Yeah, that’s them! But… why are they here?"

His face turned pale, cold sweat breaking out on his back.

Though he didn’t know what was going on, his instincts told him it wasn’t good.

Zhang Yi studied the footage carefully. He didn’t see Ling Feng or the others, which meant they were likely hiding.

And since Liang Yue hadn’t warned him, he had no idea what this was all about.

"Why are they here? They’re not here to trigger traps—the landmines around here were cleared long ago."

Zhang Yi felt something was off. Judging by the villagers’ pale faces and trembling bodies, there was definitely more going on.

"Let’s go check it out!"

He patted Fatty Xu on the shoulder, motioning for him to come along.

Author's Note