Global Awakening: Apocalypse Ender's Chronicle-Chapter 616: The Zombie Wave Preparations
Recently, there have been a lot of traveling Survivors to find more resources, Neutral Shelters, and even Treasure Chests that would appear from various places within the continent from time to time.
Sometimes, they also wanted to find different Zombies to loot. They searched for their lairs or territories to get new items or perhaps different rewards from the system.
Because of that, temporary residence permits within various Shelters have been very popular. Depending on the quality, size, and living conditions of the Shelters, these permits could be expensive.
Needless to say, after Shane's Shelters were known to the world, his Springriver Manor, Silver Mine Camp, Eclipse Domain, and New Genesis Shelter became a huge topic after a few Survivors managed to stay there.
Furthermore, Travis had actually recommended staying within Shane's Shelter even for a day to gain access to numerous weapons, tools, food, and other things that they wouldn't normally find in other shelters, like Elves, Super Soldiers, Armored Vehicles, and Automated Turrets.
Shane also opened the Chat Board and read everyone's thoughts about this upcoming Zombie Wave.
As expected, this fourth Zombie Wave, which was only triggered because of the 100th Zombie Lord Kill, could be very catastrophic, and most of the Survivors had predicted this as well.
Nonetheless, after the topic about the Zombie Wave was over, the chat continued to discuss various things.
[ Frank: Uh… Not to derail, but has anyone seen a Radioactive Zombie around Sector 9? My patrol just lost track of it. It's as big as Tyrant Zombie. We need it alive. ]
[ Travis: Frank, you're from Serene Garden Clan, right? I suggest don't take that thing alive... However, one of my informants mentioned that it was seen heading toward the Scorch Pits. Bring a hazmat suit. ]
[ Natalie: Back on topic—does anyone know what 'new mutations' mean? I'm just thinking that maybe there are already some clues about these new mutations that we might have to deal with. ]
This question was indeed as expected of the Leader of the New Haven Clan.
[ Jarvis: We recently found notes about Bone-Armored variants in one of the Laboratory Ruins. It might be those things. ]
[ Alice Mae: I don't think so, Armored Zombies were already quite old. Maybe some sort of Animal Zombies would appear. Like Lion Zombies, Shark Zombies, or something. ]
This suggestion had actually caught everyone's interest. After all, they had only encountered Zombie Wolves and Zombie Dogs so far.
As for other animal-type Zombies, no one was really talking about them. Some of them just assumed that they were existing somewhere or they hadn't become Zombies at all.
Perhaps, instead of mutating into a Zombie, these Animals had died in the process instead.
[ Lesley: Shark Zombies? Alice, are you trying to give me nightmares? Last thing we need is a zombie great white crawling out of a sewer. ]
[ Liam: Don't give the System ideas, Lesley. But seriously, we spotted a group of Tiger Zombies near the Eastwood Forest last week. They're faster than wolf zombies, and they hunt in groups. It could be a preview. ]
[ Grace: Great. So now we've got zombie wolves, radioactive zombies, and who knows what else. Anyone else rethinking their Zombie Apocalypse choice? Now that I think about it, the Ragnarok would be a lot easier. ]
[ Diana: Wolf Zombies are manageable if you take out the alpha first. But if we're dealing with aquatic mutations too, shelters near the ocean would be screwed... ]
[ Charlie: Speaking of which, has anyone checked the lakes lately? Someone, please try to dive down and look for possible Zombies gathering at the very bottom. ]
Shane wanted to close the Regional Chat after reaching this as he continued to scroll, new conversations that seemed to be quite interesting caught his attention.
[ Britney: Offering Plant Growth Services! Have a 'Plant Grower' Talent—can boost crop yields by 300% in 24 hours. Payment in ammo or medical supplies. DM for details! ]
Shane didn't expect that there was actually such a great talent out there.
[ Travis: Britney, you still owe me from last time. My tomatoes came out purple..."
[ Britney: That was a rare mutation! And they were edible anyway. ]
[ Mike: That's right. Britney's Talent is a bit weird. However, it's her second talent. Her original talent is called Landlord. I think she got a new Talent thanks to that Golden Treasure Chest. ]
[ Britney: You don't have to tell them that, Mike. ]
[ Ronny: Selling reinforced steel barricades! Custom sizes available. No zombies getting through these! They're already available in the Market. Check them out!"
[ Liam: Ronny's selling legit items. I got mine from him. I think he has some sort of Metalworker Talent. Any metal he holds gets enhanced or something. ]
[ Ronny: Thank you, Sir Liam… It's my pleasure doing business with you. ]
[ Hollis: Since everyone's already selling things, I have to join in. My medical services are available—stitches, bullet removal, surgery, and zombie bite diagnostics (no guarantees on the last one). You just have to be near Sector 15 and my caravan can visit you. ]
[ Grace: Be careful when hiring this doctor. He is legit, but the prices are too expensive. You have to discuss it first. Don't listen to him if he says he will discuss the payment after your operation. ]
[ Hollis: … ]
As he read the chat, Shane could somewhat understand why Travis and many other Survivors would stay a lot in the regional chat.
It was quite fine just reading through random conversations of other people.
Furthermore, they were also learning about the various events happening around them.
[ Frank: UPDATE: Found the Radioactive Zombie. It's currently eating our supply truck. Anyone got a heavy stun weapon? Preferably one that won't, you know, capture it? Almost all of our Control Weapons weren't effective. ]
[ Travis: Frank, just kill it. I'm pretty sure that you'll regret handling this Radioactive Zombie. Don't be too greedy. ]
[ Frank: I'll think about it… We've already sacrificed so much. We can't just let it go now. ]
[ Frank: Thanks, someone already sent us items to deal with the Radioactive Zombie. Thanks, Shane! ]
[ Frank: Ahh… You want to be anonymous. Sorry. Please ignore my last message. ]
[ Travis: Alright… We will ignore it. We don't know if it was Shane who helped you. ]
[ Natalie: Fine... We will ignore it. However, send me a DM about the item he sold to you. ]
[ Travis: What do you even plan to do with the Radioactive Zombie? If you're not careful, the members of your Clan will be in big trouble. You have to make sure that you have the right facilities to take care of that. ]
[ Jasper: Missing: One Cybernetic Hound. Our hound answers to 'Browny.' Last seen chasing a Lizard into the Misty Tree Zone in Sector 5. Reward if found! ]
[Travis: Jasper, Browny's probably halfway to the next continent by now. Or that dog's probably dead. Stop hoping for it to be alive. ]
[ Jasper: Wow. ]
[ Sandra: Priorities, people. Fourth Wave is in 15 days, and you should all be preparing yourselves. ]
***
Then, after some time, the Merchants and even the Scavengers who were visiting Shane's shelters seemed to have realized the upcoming Zombie Wave as well.
The bustling market became even more lively... Traders scrambled to change the prices of their wares, shouting over each other.
"Double the price on ammo—"
"We need to leave soon! We have to get more resources."
"We have to find other shelters that could buy our items at three or four times our current price."
The merchants were indeed planning to take advantage of the Foreign Survivor's situation.
Within Shane's shelters, weapon prices couldn't be too pricey since they have a huge supply of them.
However, there were other Shelters that could be very desperate for them. These smaller shelters may not be very safe to stay at, but if they would just do business in just a few hours, there shouldn't be a huge problem at all.
In the end, many of these Merchants don't really care about the well-being of many Survivors. For them, war makes for great business.
***
In the meantime, within the New Genesis Shelter, Butler Edwin also heard the news about the fourth Zombie Wave, but he remained composed.
New Genesis was not the fragile outpost it had once been. Shane had created several projects for the Shelter's advancement.
Walls were now reinforced with a special alloy. Automated turrets were already lined up… And now—Project Warden was also something he could rely on.
Within the command center, where Arial would always stay because of his Neural Sync to Cloud's database, Butler Edwin found himself alone for the first time in a while.
As he was curious about the progress of Project Warden, he immediately connected to the control orb and asked Cloud about the situation of the Project.
Thankfully, it didn't take that long to get an answer.
[ Defensive readiness is at 87%. Project Warden Phase One deployment in 48 hours. ]
Edwin heaved a sigh of relief, and he gently nodded.
With the Project Warden about to be deployed, there shouldn't be a problem when the Zombie Wave arrives in 15 more days.
They still had plenty of time!
