071 Awaiting the Moment – 2

Over the following week, a dramatic game of cat and mouse unfolded between the Peninsula base and Boss Tian. On one hand, the Peninsula base used Tian Maocai to feed false intelligence to Boss Tian, leading him to believe that the base had yet to pinpoint his location and was unable to mount a counterattack. Consequently, Tian focused on reinforcing his defenses to prevent another assault, and his scouts’ reports confirmed what Tian Maocai had told him. On the other hand, the special agents remained skeptical of Boss Tian’s claims that he was planning to evacuate the area around the reservoir. Logically, two skirmishes were hardly enough to break the back of a hardened criminal. With "Green-Skin Tiger," a rival who had once stood toe-to-toe with him, eliminated by the special agents, the path had been cleared for Boss Tian to consolidate total power. If he could just neutralize the Peninsula base, Boss Tian—who already controlled the prime, water-adjacent territory—would undoubtedly become the most powerful figure for hundreds of kilometers. The temptation was simply too great to ignore.

Of course, looking at it from Boss Tian’s perspective, the nail that sticks out gets hammered down. If he were to push his luck, Director Zheng Fan—who had already lost his 08 Squad—would likely be the first to object, and it was highly probable he would exhaust every means and spare no cost to eliminate Boss Tian.

Since drones and satellites could not cover every corner, the two sides’ material scavenging teams had one brief skirmish in the following days, though it resulted in no casualties. Boss Tian’s men, fearing that the oppressed civilians might discover the base’s existence, fired a few warning shots and retreated in haste. Shu Chang, who led the team from the base, did not want to expose the 08 Squad’s lack of true combat strength, so he did not pursue, merely firing back a few shots to keep up appearances.

As the onset of early winter approached, the base’s population grew steadily, finally surpassing one hundred. Most were scattered civilians brought back by the scavenging teams. Fang Qiang was deeply moved by this; he felt that if the 08 Squad had established the base sooner, perhaps Boss Tian would not have been able to capture so many people. Regardless, the population increase—especially the influx of young, able-bodied men and women—significantly accelerated the expansion of the scavenging teams, the speed of resource recovery, and the overall pace of the base’s construction.

It is worth noting that among the new arrivals was a group of survivors who had banded together and sought refuge upon hearing news of the base. There were over a dozen of them, including men, women, and children, led by a short but impressively sturdy police academy physical training instructor named Qi Xintian.

Qi Xintian’s addition significantly eased the workload for Ren Wanrong. Indeed, while Qi’s specialty was police physical fitness, he was no stranger to firearms; shotguns were the most common weapon in law enforcement, and he possessed enough practical knowledge to assist with firearms training. This allowed Ren Wanrong to step back and focus on accelerating the construction of the base’s defensive fortifications.

Once busy, time always seemed to fly. One week after discovering Boss Tian’s base, the Peninsula base’s primary defensive construction was finally complete. That morning, Fang Qiang and Ren Wanrong came to see Wang Chen to discuss the second phase of installing barbed wire. These materials had come from an unexpected source: the highway management office’s warehouse. Wang Chen had originally sent men there to find guardrails to reinforce areas of the base perimeter prone to climbing, but they had found not only thousands of meters of highway guardrail but also a vast quantity of concertina wire. It was a godsend; if laid out properly, it would stop not just zombies and humans, but even large rodents.

"So, that means we must double-layer the riverbank, and the cement bridgehead can be reduced to three layers. We’ll move the surplus wire to the hydroelectric plant. That way, all the key points are covered. But how many man-hours will the installation take?"

"This stuff is convenient. Two people per coil, pull it open, and secure it with stakes. Thirty to fifty meters an hour is no problem. It just depends on how many people you can assign me," Ren Wanrong said, his demeanor relaxed. He tapped his left thigh with his left hand; he had recently scavenged a prosthetic, and while it wasn’t a perfect fit, it served its purpose.

"We just finished the barricade of derelict vehicles at the bridgehead yesterday. After breakfast, I can spare twenty men."

"In that case, the morning will be more than enough to finish all the work."

Ren Wanrong made the call, and Fang Qiang, having nothing to add, nodded. He pulled out his cigarette case, glanced at it, crumpled it, and shoved it back into his pocket. This small gesture caught Wang Chen’s attention. He took out his own pack, passed them around, and said with a smile, "I’ll have the scavenging team look for grocery stores or tobacco and liquor shops. I’m running low on stock myself."

As the three were lost in a haze of smoke, Dai Jian knocked and entered. Days of overwork had left his back even more hunched, and his thick lenses could not mask the bloodshot exhaustion in his eyes. To Wang Chen’s suggestion that he get some rest, Dai Jian only offered a polite smile and went straight to the point: "Weather satellite data shows that from this afternoon until tomorrow morning, there will be a sharp temperature drop around the Tanghe Reservoir. The low will reach minus five degrees Celsius, and temperatures won’t recover to above freezing until around noon the day after."

Hearing this, Ren Wanrong and Fang Qiang both turned their eyes to Wang Chen. Wang Chen took a drag, steadied himself, and said in a low voice, "How accurate is this?"

"Based on the speed of the cold front moving south, the accuracy is over eighty-five percent."

Taking another drag, Wang Chen crushed the half-finished cigarette in his hand, ignoring the searing pain in his palm. He grabbed the walkie-talkie and instructed Sheng Qingru to bring an extra breakfast back to his room, then decided, "Dai Jian, stay and have breakfast with me; I have some details to ask you. Brother Ren, after breakfast, get the morning work arranged. Brother Fang, you do the same. Also, please notify everyone—in one hour, we are meeting in the conference room!"

Fang Qiang and Ren Wanrong left the room for the cafeteria. As they walked, Ren Wanrong suddenly chuckled, rubbing his phantom-pain-ridden left wrist. Before Fang Qiang could ask, he said with a look of gratification, "This kid, he’s decisive. He’s starting to act like a man who can accomplish great things."

Fang Qiang knew exactly who Ren Wanrong was talking about, but he didn’t know how to respond. What was with that fatherly tone? Then it occurred to him: Ren Wanrong was in his forties. If he’d had children early, they would be about Wang Chen’s age. *Damn, you don’t actually see Wang Chen as your own son, do you?*

Fang Qiang had seen Ren Wanrong’s file, but it didn't contain many details about his marriage or family. In the apocalypse, where families were routinely torn apart, if someone didn't volunteer that information, even the closest friends wouldn't pry. Fang Qiang could only surmise that Ren Wanrong likely had a family that perished in the pandemic, and through a displacement of affection, he was projecting his longing for his own lost child onto Wang Chen.

Ren Wanrong could never have guessed that his casual remark had triggered a mental drama of at least a dozen episodes in the mind of the gossipy, cynical Fang Qiang. Just as he was about to ask why Fang Qiang was looking at him so strangely, Hu Qianqian came running over with her little sidekick. Seeing the two elders, she breathlessly asked, "Uncle Fang, is Sister Qingru in her room?"

"Ha, you asked the right person. We just came from there; Qingru isn't there. She’s at the cafeteria getting food and hasn't come back yet."

"Ah? Thanks! Hua Jiangting! Don't just stand there, come with me to find Sister Qingru, hurry!"

"Hey? You two wait! What’s happened? You’re in such a rush," Fang Qiang asked, grabbing Hua Jiangting’s arm.

"Dahei is hurt!"