Train Survival: You're really trying to survive!

It seems we won't be able to get information about the mastermind. However, according to the online articles I've read, these kinds of incidents are usually related to special local resources. Could it be crystallized from the falling white mist? Or perhaps a material used to strengthen steel?

Su Li shook her head, temporarily putting aside these opposing views, and continued to inquire, "What about intelligence on the surrounding forces?"

"In my opinion, there are only four factions in this area."

Yu Fei held up five fingers at Su Li and the others. "Ranked fourth are the various raider squads. They call themselves nomads, which means they specialize in raiding settlements of us farmers. There aren't many of them."

"This group has a complex composition, but most of them are villains. They are mostly small teams of superhumans who are not afraid of zombies and want to live a life of luxury and recklessness. They seem to have a settlement for trading with each other. As a force, they lack cohesion, are a disorganized bunch, and are selfish, but they are quite strong. If you encounter them, try to show your strength and give them some supplies, and you can resolve the situation peacefully."

Yu Fei joked, "They're a bit like those bandits from the old society, aren't they?"

He folded one finger, making it four fingers.

"Third on the list are our small survivor settlements. As mentioned before, too many people gathering together will attract zombies, so large settlements limit the population for safety reasons. Those of us who can't get into the large survivor settlements band together and build some small survivor settlements, usually keeping the population around 100 people."

"The second-ranked one is one of only two large strongholds in the city, the Blue Sky Stronghold. Its predecessor was the Blue Sky Company. It is located in the north of the city, relatively close to us. They are a construction company with a lot of materials, and they built a rather extravagant stronghold."

"The top-ranked one is the First Outpost, a military outpost. It's located in the south of the city, relatively close to us. They have a lot of firearms. Their outpost is the only one that's on the ground, near the large mines and smelters to the south. When the white fog descends, we go into the mines to live. I heard that the factory there has been built and production has begun to resume."

After reviewing the four, Yu Fei gave a thumbs up, "And then there's the eternal T0, the zombie!"

"Those leader zombies are the true rulers of this city."

Su Li was speechless. "Are you trying to set up a game leaderboard for me? Why not just make it a super-sized or extra-large version?"

"It's ridiculous, isn't it? I'm speechless too. But this ranking was done by those gamers and data analysts." Yu Fei said with great empathy, "They say it's because the gap is too big that they put zombies in T0. Thinking about it, it's actually quite fitting."

Su Li couldn't help but ask, "How strong is that leader zombie?"

Yu Fei shook his head: "I haven't seen it, but I heard from the captain that he participated in the extermination of the leader zombie. It is said that he fought against more than 50 strong people like the captain, and it took a series of battles to kill one leader zombie."

"How strong is your captain?" Sun Lili pressed, without considering whether the question was appropriate.

"Would you like to take a look for yourself?" A deep voice came from outside the door.

Then, the door opened, and a stench rushed into the room. Su Li turned around and saw a huge man over 2 meters tall.

He wore a suit of steel armor, looking like a bear in clothes. The matte armor was stained with freshly congealed blood, emitting a putrid stench. He carried a long-handled battle axe on his back, scraps of flesh clinging to it.

This man had a stubble beard, and combined with his face, he should have had a kind of honest and simple feeling. However, seeing all the battle marks on his body, that honest and simple feeling was completely destroyed by the grimness.

The burly man sized Su Li up and down. Then he extended his hand. "I'm Zhao Zheng, the captain of this outpost."

“Explorer Squad Leader, Su Li.” Su Li extended her hand and shook hands with the person.

The absence of the classic "test of strength" scene left Su Li quite disappointed.

However, Su Li could also discern this guy's strength. He appeared to be a high-level Black Iron rank zombie. A leader zombie that would require 50 of these guys to defeat should be at least Silver rank, not Gold rank.

Zhao Zheng looked Su Li up and down, then called out to Yu Fei, "Yu Fei, go arrange for the storage of supplies. I'm going to get some fresh air first; I'll be taking the second team to collect supplies later."

After saying that, Zhao Zheng said to Su Li, "Would you like to come with us for some fresh air?"

"can!"

Zhao Zheng turned around and led the way. Yu Fei followed beside Zhao Zheng and explained the situation of Su Li and the others to him.

Su Li followed him to the top floor.

On the top floor, they were still unloading items from Zuli's vehicle. Nine more people had arrived, surrounding Zuli's train and pointing at it. Judging from their armor, this group was the exploration team.

They saw Zhao Zheng and immediately greeted him: "Hello, Captain."

Zhao Zheng greeted them one by one, and then sat down on a box.

“I’ve heard about the situation from Yu Fei. You’ve brought us valuable food and people, so I’ll give you all 47 zombie crystals we collected this time. Thank you for your help.”

“Don’t worry about the small amount. We’ve used all the zombie crystals we got ourselves; we didn’t plan to hoard them. Hoarding too many of these things can attract zombies,” Zhao Zheng explained. “Besides that, you can also take some equipment, food, and water. Additionally, we can give you a copy of the zombie distribution map we found in the area.”

"Thank you all then," Su Li said with a smile. The distribution of zombies in the vicinity was quite useful to him. However, he didn't forget that he still needed to inquire about the material that could drastically change the performance of steel. "Actually, we also wanted to ask where that steel mill is? We want to modify our train, and we need that material that can improve the performance of steel—I forgot what it's called, but we really need it."

Zhao Zheng suddenly realized, "A dazzling crystal, right? Then you've gone the wrong way. I see you came from the south, and the local dazzling crystal mines are in the south. You've gone the wrong way."

Having memorized the name of the material, Su Li continued, "We're not very familiar with this area, and we can easily go the wrong way if we're not careful."