Chapter 43: Airborne

With a profit of nearly two thousand times, Zhou Liming did not feel any sense of accomplishment. After the transaction was completed, he took the money packed in a woven bag and pushed the iron oil drum away.

When he returned to the heavy truck, Dean Zhou and An Xiaowei had long been waiting for Zhou Liming to come back. Upon seeing Zhou Liming, they all revealed smiles. Zheng Le and his group of younger brothers and sisters shouted: “Brother Liming, hurry, we are going to eat.” A few who were usually a bit naughty wanted to climb down from the heavy truck, but were shouted at by the Dean, so they could only lie dejectedly on the heavy truck.

Zhou Liming waved his hand to signal An Xiaowei to come down, pointed at the oil drum and said: “This is enough to use for a while.”

An Xiaowei, who had been worried about the fuel tank on the heavy truck running dry, said in surprise: “Where did you get this? You don’t know, quite a few people were talking about oil all afternoon, but there was no place to buy it even for several hundred a liter.” She happily got off the heavy truck, led Zhou Liming, opened the fuel tank, took out an oil funnel from the cab, and asked Zhou Liming to fill the fuel tank up.

Several hundred a liter? The current market price was ten thousand a liter.

After filling the tank, Zhou Liming carried the rest onto the truck bed and secured it with ropes. Then he washed his hands, took the rice handed over by An Xiaowei, and wolfed it down. Today’s battle was somewhat dangerous; the strength drained from him had still not recovered. If there had been a few more of this kind of Fierce Beast, he would certainly have lost his life there.

To replenish his strength, eating to supplement energy was the best method.

An Xiaowei did not cook much rice. Zhou Liming ate five bowls, but only felt that he was not hungry, far from the feeling of being full.

“Can you cook some noodles for me?” Zhou Liming was also helpless. If his energy was not replenished, what should he do if he needed to fight Fierce Beasts again? Now Zhou Liming finally understood why, as soon as the Fierce Beasts landed on the continent, they immediately launched attacks on humans and kept devouring them.

The Fierce Beasts completed their evolution in a short time and needed vast amounts of energy. The excessive expenditure made them reach a point where they would eat anything in their hunger. Humans naturally became their food. There was no such thing as unity among Fierce Beasts. The reason they did not act entirely on their own was probably because the hundreds of millions of humans could be used as food, which made them only chase after humans.

Hearing that Zhou Liming still wanted to eat, An Xiaowei blinked her eyes: “Are you a glutton?”

Although she said that, she still poured water to cook noodles.

When Zhou Liming was full, it was already eight o’clock at night. Shuangqiao Town, which had been lively all day, gradually quieted down.

Over at the town square, the army had hung up a 42-inch LCD TV and was playing a movie, which counted as bringing some entertainment to the small town, but not many people appreciated it. With Fierce Beasts constantly approaching, who was in the mood to watch movies?

At nine o’clock, a huge “buzzing” sound came from the sky. Six helicopters, two large and four small, appeared in the sky, and then, under the guidance from the ground, slowly descended.

Zhou Liming stood up. On two helicopters of unknown models, each was carrying a vehicle that looked somewhat like an armored reconnaissance vehicle. The other four smaller helicopters were fully armed and loaded with weapons. Zhou Liming did not research weapons much; the ones carrying objects should be transport helicopters, while those four should be armed helicopters.

Moments later, in the camp where the army was stationed, after the two armored reconnaissance vehicles were unloaded, the helicopters landed. From the opened cabin doors, two rows of soldiers ran out and quickly formed four teams of over a hundred people. Half of them were fully armed, while the other half carried nothing. They all stood seriously in straight lines, filled with a menacing aura.

Very quickly, these soldiers divided into over ten small teams and disappeared into the camp.

Once again, a roar came from the sky. Giant white parachutes appeared in the night sky, slowly descending toward the ground.

Zhou Liming’s eyesight was very good; he could see that the things descending in the night sky were actually tanks, a full twenty of them. The military was actually making a big move to airdrop a tank company here. The soldiers who had not carried weapons earlier were probably the tank crews.

Such a major movement could not be hidden from the over a hundred thousand people gathered below. They all looked up at the rare airdrop spectacle in their lives.

“What do you think the military is doing? Strengthening the defensive forces here?”

“Who knows? Perhaps there is some operation happening.”

“I say, it should be that the rear has almost finished evacuating, and they are here to protect us as we leave.”

“Nonsense. If the rear really had evacuated, would they still use airlift to transport tanks here? Ten Transport Aircraft were dispatched just now.”

Standing under the night sky, people began discussing one after another, but no one had an answer.

But close to ten o’clock, the checkpoint opened. A squad of soldiers stationed here drove away the people and vehicles on the road, clearing a passage. The two airlifted armored reconnaissance vehicles roared past and quickly disappeared into the night. A “buzzing” sound came from the sky as two armed helicopters took off, following the two armored reconnaissance vehicles.

Seeing this series of measures by the army, the people lost all sleepiness. They gathered around the closed checkpoint, and for a time, the noise was deafening.

“We have the right to know what the situation is like now.”

“Damn it, we just want to pass. Let us pass.”

“Is it the Fierce Beasts? Is it?”

Various shouts rose up, creating a chaotic mess. More and more people gathered. By eleven o’clock at night, almost everyone blocked here had arrived. Everyone sensed the dangerous atmosphere and became somewhat restless, gradually starting to rush the checkpoint.

With the situation threatening to worsen, the Lieutenant responsible for the area appeared at the checkpoint. Machine guns were all aimed at the surging crowd. He shouted through a megaphone: “Everyone stay calm. Earlier, we just sent out a reconnaissance unit to scout the movements and location of the Fierce Beasts. It is not that the Fierce Beasts have appeared, so please rest assured. News came from the rear that by tomorrow afternoon at the latest, everyone can leave here and evacuate this area. Moreover, I guarantee that when the time comes, the highway will be smooth, and there will be no congestion.”

“It only takes one day for everyone to retreat to Wan J City in Wan Province. The military has already built solid defensive fortifications there, and the troops are already in place.”

The Lieutenant’s words made the previously restless people calm down a little. This news was indeed good news. They had already waited here for a day and a half. As long as they had a good sleep, they could evacuate this damn place after lunch tomorrow. Just thinking about this, everyone became excited.

However, the people’s happiness seemed to come a bit too early.

The Lieutenant’s Communicator rang. After answering it, the urgent shouting that rapidly came from inside made his face instantly turn pale.

Just at that moment, in the pitch-black night, the characteristic roar of Fierce Beasts rang out. It was like a basin of cold water poured on the heads of the people who were still in a state of excitement, causing a weird few seconds of absolute silence in front of the entire checkpoint. The smiles on everyone’s faces froze, and then the smiles disappeared at an incredible speed, replaced by twisted expressions of panic.