After a few days of rest and recuperation inside the base, David decided to take the team members out for a training exercise. Prior to this, they had always trained in combat near the base and had never ventured out. They had practically wiped out the nearby zombies, so David wanted to take them further away to find some new ones.
Although this decision was somewhat risky, David pondered it and believed it was necessary. The reason was simple: the team members were eager to improve their rank and strength. The small number of low-level zombies no longer satisfied their needs; only more and higher-level zombies could rapidly enhance their abilities.
In the apocalypse, strength was paramount. Only by rapidly improving their own strength could they survive permanently in the apocalypse. So David informed everyone of this decision. Upon hearing about the training exercise, the team members immediately became excited.
“David, we should have gone further away a long time ago. We’ve already killed all the zombies in the vicinity,” Arnold exclaimed excitedly, stretching his muscles. After a few days of rest, his arm, which had been injured by Augustus, had fully recovered. After experiencing the previous incident, Arnold was determined to quickly improve his rank and strength. He was determined to find the person who had injured him and seek revenge. As a resolute and courageous man, how could he let someone beat him without retaliating?
Charles also chimed in, “I’ve already calculated it. The weather has been good these past two days, which makes it a good time for a training exercise.” David nodded, but he had only temporarily thought of this decision and hadn’t decided where they would go.
Before the apocalypse, this city was the third largest in the country, with a permanent population of tens of millions and a monthly flow of several million people. Therefore, the area was vast, taking five to six hours by car to travel from the northernmost to the southernmost part of the city. Since the outbreak of the apocalypse, their team had been guarding this area and was completely unfamiliar with other regions.
In addition, since David wanted to find a place with more zombies, he needed to study it carefully. After pondering for a moment, he said to Charles, “Charles, can you calculate which place has the most zombies?”
Upon hearing David’s words, Charles nodded. As his rank reached level six, his astrological abilities became stronger. Not only could he predict the weather, but he could also make detailed speculations about events in a certain area. He closed his eyes slightly, and Charles floated in mid-air, surrounded by a circle of stars. 𝐞𝗻𝐨𝘃𝗹.𝐜𝐨𝗺
After a moment, he gently landed on the ground and said to David, “There’s a town called D town to the north, about seventy kilometers away from us. The zombie activity there is very strong.”
David thought for a moment and immediately decided to go to D town in the north. It was not only a suitable distance, avoiding a long journey, but they could also reach there in half a day. What was more important was that he didn’t sense any other danger from Charles’s words; it seemed like the best place for the team members’ training exercise.
Next, David took out a large piece of red cloth from the warehouse system and had Sally and Sophie make it into small flags. Arnold, Duke, and Charles loaded some drinking water and food onto the supply vehicle, and they also filled several combat vehicles with fuel and checked their conditions.
David then went to the greenhouse on the second floor, picked a few genetic fruits, washed them with a potion, and put them into a bag. This ensured that the team members would have the physical and mental energy for the journey. After completing all these tasks, the team members left the base.
“This is the set of three flags you asked Sophie and me to make,” Sally handed the completed red flags to David. Taking the flags, David inserted them on one side of the engine hoods of three combat vehicles. For this training exercise, he prepared to deploy three combat vehicles. He and Sally would lead in the off-road vehicle, followed by Arnold and Sophie in the rescue vehicle, and Charles and Duke in the supply vehicle. This arrangement would not only allow all team members to practice their driving skills but also foster cooperation among them.
After David finished inserting the flags, he addressed everyone, saying, “These flags will help us better identify each other’s vehicles. If anything unexpected happens, we can take down the flags to signal each other. During the drive, we can use the flags or honk the horn to communicate with the vehicles ahead and behind.” Saying this, David stepped onto the off-road vehicle and demonstrated to the others how to use the horn to communicate important messages.
One honk meant everything was normal, two honks meant encountering danger, and three honks meant needing support. At the same time, David also taught them several common tactical gestures for actions during their operations. Everyone listened silently and committed them to memory. After the preparations were complete, the members of Ember Squad got into their cars.
Little Black and Cola jumped onto David’s off-road vehicle. After rechecking the conditions of the vehicles, they slowly left the parking lot and headed towards D town.
On the other side, at the Phoenix Rising Squad base, Duane and Shirley had returned to their normal lives after a period of depression following Alvin’s death. After all, they had to carry on with their lives; they couldn’t let the death of a traitor disrupt their normal routines. As Shirley watched the three combat vehicles of Ember Squad slowly driving through each street on the screen, she became puzzled.
“What’s going on? Why did they all go out? Are they going on a vacation or something?” Shirley wondered. The thought made her envious. She spent every day staring at these boring monitors while the members of David’s squad went on a thrilling trip in their cool combat vehicles. Who wouldn’t envy that?
“Captain, just look at their lives. That’s what I call living. How about taking me on a trip too? Going out to relax would be nice!” Shirley complained. Hearing Shirley’s grievances, Duane chuckled and looked at the three combat vehicles on the screen. Duane knew for sure that they weren’t going on a vacation; they must have a purpose. Otherwise, the last supply vehicle wouldn’t be carrying so much drinking water and supplies.
“Could it be that they’re taking the team members out for a training exercise?” Duane guessed.
“What about it? Does Shirley want to go out too?” Duane asked, and Shirley quickly nodded like a pecking chicken.
“Then when David and the others go next time, I’ll make sure they take you along. I don’t have the luxury of time for such leisure,” which immediately made Shirley hang her head and give Duane a resentful glare.
For Duane, the most important thing now was to uncover the secret of the Second Red Light. He knew that Alvin’s death was highly suspicious. Why was he killed as soon as the Second Red Light was mentioned?
Duane knew that the person who killed Alvin was likely the key figure behind the Second Red Light. So Duane had been trying to find a way to locate them.