Chapter 106: Traps
Many men were tempted by the bounty, so she had to be careful with every step she took. She eventually married Meng Xiaoni’s father only after making certain that he was different from the others and would never abandon her.
That decision had made her one of the few women who hadn’t married multiple men.
But now, seeing her children treated like this, she regretted everything.
’If only I had taken more husbands and become more powerful, my son wouldn’t have suffered so much.’
After returning to the villa, the additional members of the Meng family quickly created a space problem. There simply wasn’t enough room for everyone.
In the end, they rented another villa nearby for 1,000 kilograms of pure rice. The following day, after settling his family in, Meng Xiaoni approached Ni Mengxue.
She was resting on the sofa in her villa when he stopped in front of her and clenched his fists. "I want to borrow some more rice from you."
He felt extremely embarrassed saying those words. He had already taken 125,000 kilograms of rice from her, not to mention another 1,000 kilograms for the villa.
And now he was asking her for medicine. ’I’m asking for too much.’
Ni Mengxue seemed to have read his mind. She smiled, waved her hand, and five vials of healing potions and 4000 kg of pure rice appeared in her palm.
She handed them to him. "Take these. Give them to your family members."
Meng Xiaoni stared at the potions before looking at her. "Thank you."
"As for everything else, we’ll discuss it later."
Meng Xiaoni nodded.
He was already anxious to return to his family, so he quickly pocketed the potions and hurried away.
His pace was so fast that Ni Mengxue’s lips twitched.
She shook her head before closing her eyes and turning her attention toward managing her base.
’The zombie tide will most likely arrive within three days.’
She needed to make sure her people were properly prepared.
........
Five days earlier, at the Fair Shallow Land, Xiong Tong and the others were working when a loud alarm suddenly rang throughout the settlement.
Everyone froze. They immediately rushed toward the centre of the base.
A massive red holographic screen appeared above them.
[Warning: A zombie tide will arrive in five days. All residents are advised to prepare immediately.]
Everyone’s expressions turned grim. There were only around forty people living in the entire base. It was so small that defending it against a zombie tide seemed almost impossible.
"How are we supposed to survive this?"
"Why would a zombie tide come here?"
"More importantly, how does the base know it’s coming?"
Before anyone could panic further, another series of prompts appeared.
[All residents must maintain peak physical condition.]
[The base is recruiting healers. Residents are advised to increase their combat levels.]
[Defensive traps must be constructed around the perimeter.]
The residents immediately became busy.
Since they had been warned beforehand, they no longer had the luxury of wasting time.
One of the residents was particularly skilled at constructing traps, so he was appointed as the leader of the defensive teams.
Five teams were formed, each consisting of five people.
The remaining fifteen residents would remain in reserve.
Most of the reserve members were elderly or women, while the five combat teams consisted primarily of the younger men.
None of them were particularly powerful.
If they had been strong, they wouldn’t have ended up living in such a small base in the first place.
The situation was grim. Then another system notification appeared.
[Due to special circumstances, Healing Potions are temporarily available for 1,000 system points each.]
Everyone stared at the notification. Healing potions were incredibly valuable.
Healers were rare, and proper healing medicine was even harder to obtain.
If they could buy these potions for only 1,000 points and sell them to a nearby base at a higher price, wouldn’t they make a fortune?
Some residents even began wondering whether they could simply purchase potions and leave the base.
The system immediately anticipated their thoughts.
[Warning: Residents are prohibited from purchasing healing potions in bulk for resale to other bases.]
[Any resident found violating this rule will be permanently banned from the base. Bulk purchases will be restricted during the special sale.]
The residents fell silent.
Their little schemes had been exposed before they could even begin.
"Forget it. We’d better focus on surviving."
"Let’s think of a way to deal with the zombies."
They quickly returned to preparing the defenses.
The first priority was the perimeter.
They dug a wide trench around the outer wall and installed sharpened iron stakes at the bottom.
Between the trenches, they placed concealed pits covered with thin boards and soil, while sturdy wire traps were stretched at ankle and knee height in areas where zombies were likely to approach.
They also constructed simple barricades from scrap metal, reinforced wooden beams, and welded steel frames.
For a group of superhumans with basic tools and enough manpower, these defenses were crude but feasible.
It took them nearly two days to complete the majority of the traps. By then, everyone was exhausted.
But they couldn’t stop. They needed more methods. One idea soon emerged.
Mutated animals.
They had already noticed that zombies seemed to have a particular preference for mutated beasts.
If they cut a large piece of meat from a mutated animal and threw it away from the base, nearby zombies would often become distracted and swarm toward it.
They could use that moment to attack groups of zombies with explosives.
"Team One and Team Two will go hunting for mutated animals."
"Understood!"
The two teams immediately set out.
Teams Three and Four, meanwhile, came up with another strategy.
They had conducted some basic research and discovered that zombies were highly sensitive to strong scents.
So they prepared several traps using concentrated perfume and other pungent substances.
The plan was simple.
Lure the zombies toward the traps, make them fall into the prepared pits, and then eliminate them from a safe distance.
They continued brainstorming every possible strategy.
But despite all their preparations, one problem remained.