Day two of the apocalypse, 7:00 AM sharp.
Everyone had already gathered in the large plaza of the industrial park.
Yu Dong glanced over them. Everyone was still standing according to their pre-apocalypse social hierarchies.
The migrant workers were all present and full of energy. A middle-aged man among them with scruffy hair and a beard was smoking, and many people were talking to him.
Some of the students looked drained, while others were still bleary-eyed, but they were all present. Jiang Zhuoyu was quietly kicking a few of them to get them to liven up.
Eight of the nine electricians had arrived.
Out of twenty-two people in the entire secretarial department, only twelve had shown up. Ten were missing.
As for Yu Dong’s own people, they had all... arrived.
Well, except for Yang Yi, but she didn’t count as a person.
It was worth noting that Yu Dong found the way his people were positioned... very interesting.
Gao Yan, Liangzi, Cao Zihan, and the six P.E. students weren’t clustered together. Liangzi was standing next to Jiang Zhuoyu, laughing and joking to build rapport, and he even shot a toothy grin at Yu Dong from time to time.
Among the others, only a few knew each other. Gao Yan showed no awareness of being a squad leader; he was still contemplating the current situation.
This was good news for Yu Dong.
Because these people couldn’t listen to Gao Yan anymore. They had to listen to him.
In his past life, these people had managed to fight their way out of the city. After they reached the cruise ship, they consistently operated as a squad without suffering any casualties. Their survival skills were practically maxed out.
This kind of ability wasn’t developed in a few days of training. It was the culmination of decades of experience, amplified by their own innate talent. In terms of physical fitness alone, they were no worse than Lv Sheng and Lin Mo.
Yu Dong planned to focus on training these nine most physically capable individuals to become the team’s main combat force.
With so many people standing in several rows, Yu Dong stood alone, directly in front of them.
After pacing back and forth twice, Yu Dong shouted, "Lin Mo, step forward!"
"Here!"
Lin Mo took a step forward from the crowd and stood before the formation.
"Was everyone notified yesterday about the 7 AM training session this morning?"
"The message was delivered to everyone!"
"What about the people over here? Why are so many missing? Can someone tell me?" Yu Dong asked, pointing at the gaps in the secretarial department’s ranks.
Lin Mo looked toward the female secretaries, gesturing for them to speak.
One of them, a beauty with very exotic features wearing light makeup—the kind who would look just like Dilraba to someone face-blind to other ethnicities—parted her rosy lips and said softly:
"My roommate said... training is something men should do, and she doesn’t need it, so she didn’t get up. She also said that if the leader asks... he can come to her room to ’communicate’ with her privately."
Her voice was crisp and clear, very pleasant to the ear.
"The two in the dorm next to mine are getting their beauty sleep. They said waking up early is bad for their skin..."
"My roommate was going to come, but she’s still putting on her makeup... She said we should go on without her and that she won’t leave the room until her makeup is perfect."
The other women were mostly the same. They felt that things like training and killing zombies were not women’s business and weren’t in a hurry. To them, beauty was their core competency.
Hearing this, Huang Zhiqiang curled his lip from his spot in the ranks. ’They just don’t get it...’
His Xinxin had wanted to sleep in today, too, but he’d dragged her out of bed.
’It’s Dongzi’s first morning of training. Not showing up is a total slap in his face, isn’t it?’
Huang Zhiqiang couldn’t figure out what those women were thinking... ’They haven’t even latched onto a big shot like me, yet they’re already this clueless.’
’Do they really think things are still the same as before?’
Yu Dong nodded slightly, then turned to the electricians.
"What about you guys? You’re also short one person. Why isn’t he here?"
Just as Yu Dong was speaking, a young man came running over. He looked to be under thirty and was the youngest of the electricians.
"Sorry, sorry! I was constipated this morning, so I’m late, I’m late! Excuse me, excuse me."
He quickly located the group of electricians and squeezed his way in, then gave Yu Dong a couple of awkward laughs.
Yu Dong nodded slightly.
"Lin Mo, according to military regulations, what’s the punishment for being late to formation?"
"For every minute you’re late, you run ten laps around the field."
Yu Dong glanced at his watch. "It’s now 7:02 AM. You’re two minutes late. By the rules, that’s a twenty-lap punishment. However, since this is the first time and I didn’t state the rules in advance, I’ll just have you run five laps this time. Go."
"Huh? But I was constipated... I didn’t mean to be late."
"I only look at the results."
"But... I... I..."
Yu Dong’s gaze was fixed on the tardy young electrician. The man opened his mouth but ultimately couldn’t get the words out. He stepped out of the ranks and started running laps around the factory grounds.
At that, everyone else fell silent. The way they looked at Yu Dong changed slightly.
"Today is the second day of the zombie virus outbreak. You all saw the government text message yesterday. After a night’s sleep, you should be able to accept the reality of the apocalypse. Listen..."
Yu Dong shushed them, and the crowd quieted down. The roars from outside the park, along with the faint sounds of pounding on walls and doors, drifted in.
Before the apocalypse, their industrial park had been specially reinforced. The walls were high and sturdy, topped with an electric fence. It would be impossible for zombies to pile their way in unless tens of thousands of them gathered at once.
"The zombies are right outside that gate, ready to devour every living person. Without this sturdy gate and these walls, most of you would be dead. It was me who found a way to save you."
"I’m not asking you to repay me by pledging your lives or anything like that. I saved you because I wanted to. I just hope there are more living people in this world."
"You can be grateful to me, but you don’t need to give up everything you have because of this."
"You might have talked amongst yourselves last night, passed messages around... I am a Regressor, someone who can be reborn indefinitely. My goal in this life is to save this city, promote scientific research to develop a vaccine that grants immunity to the zombie virus, and then... save my friends... your friends... your families... and all those people we know, as well as those we don’t."